How can democracies harness technology to promote inclusive economic growth and development?
Past Event
Advances in digital technology and artificial intelligence hold great promise to boost economic prosperity and address some of the world’s most pressing challenges, but they can also worsen economic disparities and even undermine democratic governance. As these technologies transform business and work, they are shifting growth and distributional dynamics in major ways—in both advanced and developing economies. Their economic and social implications are profound.
In harnessing the potential of today’s technological transformations to build inclusive prosperity, democratic societies face important questions. How can digital government advance equity and provide essential services for all? How does technological change contribute to the current rise in inequality in many countries and what are the implications for public policy? How can disruptive innovation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa and the Global South accelerate inclusive economic transformation and quality job creation, especially for youth, women, and sustainable development?
On March 16, the Brookings Global Forum on Democracy and Technology hosted a symposium to consider these questions and more. President of Brookings John R. Allen delivered welcoming remarks, Brookings Nonresident Fellow Priya Vora moderated a fireside chat with Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development Isobel Coleman, and three separate panels of policymakers, practitioners, and researchers will discussed the complex relationship surrounding democratic societies, technology, and inequality.
Viewers submitted questions via email to events@brookings.edu or via Twitter at #TechforInclusiveGrowth.
Agenda
Opening remarks
Session I
Digital development
Hannes Astok
Executive Director, Chairman of the Management Board - Estonia’s e-Governance Academy
George Ingram
Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development, Center for Sustainable Development
Kay McGowan
Senior Director for Research, Policy, and Advocacy - Digital Impact Alliance
Pramod Varma
CTO - Ekstep Foundation
Chief Architect - Aadhaar and India Stack
Co-founder - Beckn Foundation
Session II
Technology, inequality, and public policy
François Bourguignon
Emeritus Professor of Economics - Paris School of Economics
Director of Studies - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
Nora Lustig
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development
Samuel Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Economics and Director of the Commitment to Equity Institute - Tulane University
Deepak Mishra
Director and Chief Executive - Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), India
Fireside chat with Ambassador Isobel Coleman
Priya Vora
Nonresident Fellow - Global Economy and Development, Center for Sustainable Development
Session III
Disruptive innovation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Roslyn Docktor
Vice President, Technology and Science Policy and Vice President, Middle East and Africa - IBM Government & Regulatory Affairs
Louise Fox
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development, Africa Growth Initiative
Landry Signé
Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development, Africa Growth Initiative
Professor and Executive Director - Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University
Distinguished Fellow - Stanford University
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