Issue 42: The World Turns to Davos
Welcome to Backstory, a weekly newsletter turning global technology shifts into a three-minute read. This week, we’re thinking about ways to make government more efficient and effective – Mary Ames, Director of Strategy
THE BIG TAKE
The World Turns to Davos
The annual World Economic Forum (WEF) gets underway in Davos today. From humble beginnings, the conference has transformed into a major event on the global calendar, drawing influential politicians, business people, and thinkers to the Swiss Alps every winter. In recent years, the event has focused squarely on the ramifications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in which new technologies are augmenting how we live, work, and communicate. Chief among these technologies is artificial intelligence (AI).
Sensible AI: There are two strands of AI debate at Davos this year. One concerns how to handle innovations in technology and whether they should be proprietary in nature. The other is focused on how to regulate AI. Make no mistake, the pace of innovation in AI is staggering. Aside from the Chinese technology ecosystem, most AI advancements on the market are controlled by private companies. How to empower more people with the benefits of AI will be a topic of intense discussion over the entire forum.
Sensible regulation: As a result of the rapid pace of AI innovation, calls for regulation are getting louder. In the run-up to WEF, CEOs of major technology companies sounded the alarm over the need for better regulation. Google CEO Sundar Pichai took to the pages of the Financial Times to argue that “companies cannot just build new technology and let market forces decide how it will be used”. Pichai will join a chorus of other CEOs calling for a principled and regulated approach to applying AI in the marketplace and beyond. Even the computer giant IBM is calling “for standards to combat bias and ease concerns that the technology relies on data that bakes in discriminatory practices”. Watch these debates closely.
Small states and the power of WEF: Since its beginning, WEF has been a champion of smaller countries that punch above their weight. It’s one reason why WEF opened the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Dubai. Given the UAE’s open embrace of AI at every level of society, we will be influential in translating the discussions at WEF and turning them into a reality. We are the laboratory for the next wave of the AI revolution. As we watch the headlines trickle out from Davos, bear in mind that they are much more than rhetoric at home. They are blueprints for the next chapter in our evolving story as an emerging knowledge economy.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Everything you can imagine is real”
Pablo Picasso
OUR VIEWS THIS WEEK
The Dubai Council: Building on a tradition of innovation, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum began 2020 with a bold vision for the Government. At his request, a newly formed Dubai Council will lead six critical sectors including the economy, government services, development, infrastructure, justice and security, and health and knowledge. This week, we unpacked what the Dubai Council means for the city, the region, and the world. At its core, the Dubai Council is a profound reimagining of how the government can achieve its goals. It’s the latest announcement in a long history of radical decisions designed to ensure Dubai is one of the most innovative cities to live and work in.
Resolute regulation: If you’ve been reading anything about technology recently, you might expect 2020 to be the year of regulation. For the past several years, scrutiny of major technology companies has intensified as technology has become deeply ingrained in our lives. This week, we argued that the UAE can take the lead in crafting sensible regulations that will serve as a model for other places. The UAE has the talent and drive, now it’s time to act.
A Message From SquadX
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SPOTTED ELSEWHERE
Easily spotted: Of all the latest innovations in technology, facial recognition really grabs mainstream attention. That’s because the tech feels like it’s straight from a science fiction movie. The New York Times ran a significant investigative piece this week about a company that takes publicly available images of people on the internet and feeds them into police databases in the United States. The ethics behind this business model are delicate but at least the story is generating debate about how best to use the power of facial recognition in a safe and sane manner.
A new addition: Speaking of Google, cracks are appearing in the search engine’s dominance. Huawei phones will soon be using TomTom mapping services thanks to the Trump Administration's bans on links between the Chinese manufacturer and American companies. As part of sweeping anti-trust legislation in Europe, Google will give Android users on the continent the ability to use search engines like info.com as their main search field. Just as Google’s parent company Alphabet hit a $1tn valuation, the company’s dominance of the market doesn’t appear all-consuming.