I would like to respond to a news article, ‘Experts talk digitalisation of economy, climate change’, published in the Bulletin on September 5.
In the article, it says the talk revolved around the paradoxes of COVID-19 and that these paradoxes “are worth discussing”, and push an individual to “think outside the box”.
While it is good to know there are platforms on which experts openly discuss pressing issues and find ways to resolve them, I wonder how long before these solutions are taken on and implemented.
Talks are great in raising awareness of current issues; but without action, they are just talks.
Take for example how the pandemic had pushed for the swift adoption of digitalisation.
Students suddenly found themselves having to attend classes virtually; teachers having to plan their lessons more creatively; employees having to work with very little supervision; and employers having to distribute tasks without face-to-face interaction.
These changes, while inevitable, happened almost overnight. Having discussions about the paradoxes is great, but the longer we drag these issues on, the more the underprivileged and the elderly will feel sidelined.
We need to have these issues discussed in a serious way; not just a few experts giving their two cents in a public forum. We need to talk with representatives from all socio-economic and age groups to better understand the impact of digitalisation; not just the tech-savvy who are – frankly – ‘already there’.
Observer
