Technological development today has the most influential factors of social development with new technologies bringing significant changes to communications, medical treatment, the production and distribution of goods and food.
The credit goes to the information technology that has significantly contributed to boosting the development of the world economy.
Even more, this has also helped in integrating existing markets and opening up new ones.
A far-reaching technological revolution is, undoubtedly, in the progress at the moment. To be more precise, digitalization is changing the world.
The interaction of networking, data acquisition, and artificial intelligence (AI) is leading to radical changes in all sectors – from personal to economic or social.
The speed of the innovations and their global reach has increased the interlacing of different technologies.
Moreover, what has to be equally considered is that the world economy saw a shift in the late 20th century to become more reliant on knowledge.
However, despite all these, the world today is put under seize by COVID-19, and Nepal, too, has been adversely affected by this pandemic. This global crisis, I believe, will be pulled through shortly.
At this juncture, it is also equally important how data capitalism is shaping the new society and our economy.
The main characteristic of the current global capitalistic ideology is data capitalism, or in other words, surveillance capitalism.
In the 18th and 19th Centuries, capitalism was mainly perceived as a manufacturing and commodity economy.
Later, during the 20th century, finance capitalism became the distinguishing feature of the economy.
Present trends after 2016, a period known as the fourth industrial revolution, have been focusing mostly on data or knowledge capitalism.
With the development of computational capabilities and the exponential rise of applications such as Smart ioT Applications, Targeted Advertising, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, High-Frequency Trading, Efficient Homes and Cities, Surveillance for law enforcement, etc. have converted data itself into the main commodity of today’s economy.
Big companies are harnessing data and studying behavioral tendencies and experiences and through machine intelligence, and are building mathematical models that can predict and even change user behaviors.
This has severe implications on our economy, politics and society. Due to this, safety and privacy concerns have intensified. Lack of awareness and strong policies to protect user data has caused the increasing misuse of personal data and often even cybercrime.
However, data can also do a lot of good. It allows us to create innovative products and solutions that solve many issues faced by the people.
It fuels scientific research for medicines, helps diagnose illnesses, predicts threats and outbreaks, helps optimize businesses, etc.
Now, the question is: Do we feel the change in the air? Definitely, we gave officially entered the era of data capitalism, according to the Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the University of Oxford.
Today, the biggest actors are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple as they collect and control unparalleled quantities of data about people’s behaviors, and turn them into products or services.
Think, there was a time when data was used to improve the quality of search results. However, anything beyond it actually needed for improvements constituted a surplus.
This signaled to Google how people behaved. This data, also called behavioral data surplus, was even used for advertising allowing Google to make accurate predictions of how people behaved thus improving the profitability of the advertisements for the customers as well as Google.
Currently, as the globe grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, surveillance capitalists seem to poise to expand their supply chains.
Moreover, what has to be equally considered is that the world economy saw a shift in the late 20th century to become more reliant on knowledge.
In such a situation, surveillance capitalism, which was first consolidated at Google, uses the business model based on the digital world.
Today, the biggest actors are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple as they collect and control unparalleled quantities of data about people’s behaviors, and turn them into products or services.
This has led to significant business growth for these international brands.
According to the newly available data sources, such products have increased the quantity and variety of data availability.
The sensor-based society today includes smart home devices, wearables, drones, or automated travel, and sensors such as cameras, microphones, and temperature, among others.
Such commodities have become part of everyday care practices.
This is not possible without a comprehensive transformation of the government, the political parties, the administration, the security forces, and the education sector.
Now to come back to data capitalism, it is a system in which the commoditization of the data enables an asymmetric redistribution of power which is enacted through capitalism and justified by the association of networked technologies.
It is thus important to start discussions on ways to build laws and policies that protect the people from the misuse of data and at the same time allow innovations and research to foster.
What the above facts and information teach us is that it is not possible to lead and transform today’s society by explaining the situation or experience of yesterday. As one scholar puts it, “Historians study the past not to repeat it, but to free themselves from its weaknesses.”
Therefore, Nepal should study this roadmap of the world in-depth and prepare itself to move forward accordingly.
This is, however, not possible without a comprehensive transformation of the government, the political parties, the administration, the security forces, and the education sector.
New discoveries and the use of technology should lay the foundation for a new height of Nepal’s economy and be able to address the demands of the people.
(Surendra Pandey is former Minister of Finance)
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