The Big Challenges: How Can We Stop Preparing for the Last War?
Revolutionary shifts in technology, such as the fourth industrial revolution and the digital economy, have become reality. Futurologists and experts foresee major economic and social change. But is it not the case that – as has happened before – these predictions are simply extrapolations based on obvious trends which substitute an image of the future with today’s (or even yesterday’s) reality? Or are we perhaps looking at an attempt by a limited group of technology owners to present us with ready-made solutions, condemning the majority of countries to an endless game of catch-up? If this is indeed the case, is it possible to break free from the framework imposed by the current leading players which guarantees their primacy? Finally, would it be feasible to create an institution which could design and realize a desirable future and lay out a path to development in such a way as to avoid the tendency to fight the last war?
