Addressing global risks requires more sophisticated thinking on new technologies – Andrew Maynard & Tim Harper

Andrew Maynard and  Tim Harper are guest bloggers for the Forum. Andrew is Chair, Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies; Director, University of Michigan Risk Science Center. Andrew will be attending the Annual Meeting in Davo. Tim is Director, CIENTIFICA Ltd.

The sixth edition of the Global Risks Report – published in January by the World Economic Forum – includes a new category of risk: “New Technologies.”  This addition reflects mounting concerns that developments in areas such as nanotechnology, synthetic biology and others could have potentially profound and catastrophic impacts on human health and the environment if mishandled.  Yet there is a danger that naïve perspectives on new technologies could jeopardize progress toward social and economic progress.

Rather than driving risks, many new technologies provide a powerful platform for mitigating and avoiding them.  But in today’s globalized world, the barriers to realizing this potential are immense.  As the World Economic Forum launches the Risk Response Network, new approaches to integrating intelligence on new technologies with social, economic and political factors will be critical to helping build a safe and sustainable future.

This is the underlying message of a new report from the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies. Building a Sustainable Future: Rethinking the Role of Technology Innovation in an Increasingly Interdependent, Complex and Resource-constrained World is aimed at decision-makers in corporations, governments and global institutions, and outlines the opportunities and challenges of using new technologies to develop timely, cost effective and acceptable solutions to pressing global challenges.  Seven specific fronts are identified on which progress needs to be made if new technologies are to support a safe and sustainable future.  These including increasing access to intelligence on new technologies; building new partnerships and engaging more effectively with stakeholders; re-examining how innovative ideas are translated into effective solutions to pressing problems; and rethinking the process of global technology governance. 

Without a doubt, we are facing an ever-greater array of global risks that are stretching our ability to ensure a sustainable and resilient society. But perhaps the biggest risk of all is we continue to see these risks as unavoidable. In the same way that international organizations are able to mitigate the effects of fiscal crises and geopolitical conflict, many risks, from climate change to energy prices, can be mitigated through the effective use of technology. It is only through the application of new technologies that the human race has moved from small bands of hunter-gatherers to supporting almost seven billion people. Technology has vastly improved the quality of life for the majority of the world’s population, and provides a wide variety of solutions in food, water, and energy. But the safe and successful development and use of new technologies is far from certain. If we are to continue to improve the quality of life on a planet challenged with supporting 9 billion people, critically important initiatives such as the Risk Response Network must enable more sophisticated approaches to how we develop new technologies, and use them to reduce emerging risks.

Building a Sustainable Future