Seminar on “Transforming Europe towards the digital age”Round Table
This discussion took place in Cadenabbia, on the 5th-7th March 2018.
The panel was chaired by David GREGOSZ, Senior Economist and Coordinator International Economic Policy, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
The speakers who contributed to the debate were for example:
· Dr. Aljoscha BURCHARDT, Senior Researcher, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence
· Fredrik HACKLIN, Associate Professor at ETH Zurich, Professor at Vlerick Business School and Managing Director of the Corporate Innovation Lab
· Steven HILL, Journalist-in-residence at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung
The digital revolution starts in our households.
It is interesting to look at how things worked in different households 60 years ago and now.
It is now time to create new opportunities for all Europeans.
Jobs will change considerably. So far, the companies who are greatly automated have shown outstanding improvements. Europe needs to integrate the migrant and analyse the constructive knowledge they can bring.
The digital revolution starts in our households.
It is important to acknowledge the fact that between 2008 and now, jobs have changed its dynamics. Top experts are divided: 50% of experts argue that technology will destroy jobs then it will create while 50% argue that technology will create more jobs then it will destroy all this by 2025.
What is politically needed to improve companies and bring them to a situation where they can use the new business models? More funding on SMEs is essential in order to accomplish this.
How do we transform digital disruption into a more business-oriented model? Business model went from leasing devices to consulting-they take care of inefficiencies.
There are 3 technologies coming together to design the economy: smartphones, high speed internet and high speed data. This will be the future of work: digital transformation, artificial intelligence and machinery. Our aim should be bring data together with knowledge.
There are 3 technologies coming together to design the economy: smartphones, high speed internet and high speed data.
Moving from products to services-Hilti case. Hilti VS Bosch bare different positions in the market. Hilti’s business model is particularly interesting because their main target are professionals, not just a regular customer. By creating their own transportation channels as well as specific/designed market, they generate a holistic service. Doing this means that they are moving from a hardware to a software company. Hilti creates new profiles, new ways of working and this is the challenging part of the job: employees have to switch the way the sell (from hardware to software services).
On the positive side, one can argue that these technologies are attractive on a practical view, since they are time savers, and there are no expenses (such as driving from one place to another). On the other hand, it is a threat to the people who are being displaced by them. The direction we are heading towards is called freelance society and it is the society who came out after the economic crisis of 2008.
The jobs that are mostly being created are precarious/part-time jobs. This imposes the real question now: will consumers have enough money to buy goods and services that business are producing?
Marxism is dead. Is there anything left for the left? Left has lost identity. Due to technology, in 50 years time everything that the left stand for will be obsolete.