Photo courtesy of World Economic Forum
Today we are featuring a guest post from John Yazlle, Ericsson’s Head of Strategy & Marketing, Latin America & Caribbean. John attended the World Economic Forum on Latin America last week and came away with these insights:
Based on the conversations I heard and participated in at the World Economic Forum WEF) on Latin America, everyone is seeing digital transformation. There is no question that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is the tool we must embrace, and harness, in order to achieve a more inclusive and productive world.
The forum brought together executives from internet technology companies, healthcare, telecoms, governments from Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and non-governmental agencies, and we came to the conclusion that this digital transformation must happen.
Photo courtesy of World Economic Forum
I spend a fair amount of energy in my daily work thinking about the Networked Society and how to make it happen faster. I really believe we are on a journey and, as with any journey, it is important to keep focus on where we are going (the Networked Society) and why (benefits for people, business and society). The journey will not follow a straight road, and the curves and ups and downs will make it even more exciting. Sometimes I feel people focus too much on the holes/pitfalls on the road instead of finding the stepping stones to move safely forward. For instance, it is hard to predict which devices or applications will be used in the future, but for sure we will need a network to support them. We need to create an environment in which we can add spectrum and boost network investments and quality. In a similar manner, although it is hard to predict future business models, we can be certain that one business model will not fit all use cases. Therefore it is critical to allow for flexible business models and monetization, as different applications and customer segments will have their own specific requirements.
On the technology front, we see a fast pace of advancement, bringing more functionality and higher capacity to networks. As a result of that, it is important to devise policies that are technology agnostic, as regulations will certainly not evolve as fast as the market or technology.
So how does this all become Technology for Good? Because our engagement impacts multiple stakeholders. We believe there is more power in public-private partnerships in order to improve the fundamentals of government institutions, social and financial inclusion, education, healthcare and employment.
In fact, the major areas discussed at WEF were education, energy, health and financial services – and naturally I felt proud that our Technology for Good initiatives came up in the financial inclusion session. Our Peruvian m-commerce project has the potential to bring millions of unbanked Peruvians into the system where access to financial tools can help them achieve long-term financial security.
Speaking of inclusion, one newcomer to the discussions was Cuba. It was great to see Cuban representatives talking about opening up their economy. It reminded me of our work in Myanmar, where this extremely young market has just started to open up, and we are working hard to do business responsibly there. The impact of ICT in a newly opened market can be a thrilling sight to see.
Overall, I think the forum was an opportunity to listen and learn about the long-term view. I was pleased to see how there is general consensus about the need to have healthy fundamentals in government, to resolve poverty and to encourage democracy in order to drive growth. It is about having leaders that take the right measures. While we did see some good examples from Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru, it is only the beginning. Technology for Good has to reach farther, and faster.
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