Review Digital Economic Forum 2019: Digitization does not do away with people
Digitization and artificial intelligence do not make humans superfluous. The speakers at the 5th Digital Economic Forum (DEF) on May 9, 2019 in Zurich were largely in agreement that despite new technologies and automation, there is still great potential for human labor in the future. The discussion focused on the socio-political consequences of digitalization.
In order to make the best possible use of the technological possibilities of digitization, we still need the working and thinking power as well as the creativity of people. The speakers at the Digital Economic Forum 2019 agreed on this. "I believe that people will continue to be needed," explained Abacus mastermind Claudio Hintermann. Everything has changed in a single generation, he said. However, unlike machines, humans do not continuously evolve and have to learn the same things over and over again, he added. According to Marianne Wildi, CEO of Hypothekenbank Lenzburg, "Many things change and yet many things remain stable. A cool mix of man and machine is a cool future," the banker is convinced.
The sensor technology expert, ETH professor Dr. Robert Riener, was also optimistic that there will still be a lot of potential for human work in the future, despite all the technical developments. He impressively demonstrated how, in movement rehabilitation, robots or exoskeletons help to make movement and thus the healing process more intensive as a supplement to conventional therapy. For Empa Director and ETH Professor Gian-Luca Bona, human creativity is required in the development of new materials. He saw great potential in machine to machine learning in the interplay of various specially trained skills. According to Bona, technology and material development as well as design are closely related and must form a closed loop.
Data leaks, insecure devices and invasive trackers
Another human aspect in the environment of digitalization was highlighted by the German hospital CEO Dr. Nicolas Krämer, whose clinic was the victim of a massive hacker attack in 2016, and Jan Schilliger, one of the co-founders of the ETH start-up SnowHaze. The human factor plays a crucial role in IT security, especially when it comes to not opening spam emails with attachments, appreciated Krämer, who saw the entire healthcare sector facing a real paradigm shift. Schilliger also pointed out how people sometimes negligently undermine data security in their everyday actions, recklessly creating the possibility of a cyberattack. "Data leaks, insecure devices and invasive trackers are everywhere," explained Schilliger, who could have manipulated thousands of connections in a hotspot experiment with visitors during DEF.
Advantage through knowledge
For Valerio Roncone, Head Future Business SIX, the digital changes are fundamental, far-reaching and possibly disruptive. This brings with it increased requirements for security and stability and demands increased attention, Roncone explained. Tino Hellmund, Head Client Service Management SIX, made it clear that in 2027 the new generation "Alpha" would enter the work process, which would hardly have any reference to analog processes anymore. He identified sophisticated chatbots as a suitable means of communicating with these people.
Kevin Sartori, co-founder of Auterion AG, a proven expert in the drone business, was a key advocate of open source software as a global standard, also for drone control, for example. And finally, the internationally awarded German memory trainer Markus Hofmann explained in his short training session how to achieve an edge through knowledge even in a digitalized world by being able to retrieve information faster than others. For the youngest Swiss member of the Council of States, Damian Müller (FDP/LU), it is clear that great efforts are needed for the authorities and politicians to keep up with developments and to recognize and understand the potential of new working worlds.
Unique world of experience
As a novelty at the Digital Economic Forum 2019, a unique world of experience conveyed tangible examples and enabled hands-on experience with new technologies. Developments and products from digitization were ready to be discovered: robots, sensory gloves, communicating with bots, experiencing the power of an exomuscle, a moving simulator with which humans could experience flying, and much more.
More information: www.digitaleconomicforum.ch
