Building a resilient and sustainable world for reducing the risk of future crises and getting into the next phase of evolution

Recent events have strained the economies of all countries and negatively impacted most sectors of Industry. The pandemic has also brought to the fore the importance of flexible supply chains that are not bound to a particular region, country, or vendor for fulfilling the needs of world’s consumers. It has highlighted the weaknesses and gaps in the global economic model. Many countries have started realigning their policy framework to put more emphasis on the inherent capabilities to fulfil the local demand. 

This is easier said than done. All countries will still be importing a significant number of resources for thousands of different products required for their population. Other global challenges are much more complex, such as the issues of climate change, terrorism, and inequality – all of which will eventually require even more sophisticated global collaborations, systematically inclusive interventions, and community-based approach across the regions. 

A balanced approach to development keeping in line with the sustainable development goals of UN is one way to move forward. Resilience and sustainability will be the key drivers for devising the future architecture of systems to drive the planet. Let us see some major insights and the important contributors that will require highest level of attention. 

Participatory and Inclusive world order: To respond to various crises, it is essential to have the involvement and participation of all citizens without any discrimination. The governance of different countries should gravitate towards more participatory models. Ancient cultural heritage of all forms needs to be preserved and respected. Leaders need to promote a broad world view instead of narrow outlook tainted with self-aggrandizement. 

Infrastructure for crisis response: Heavy investments should be done to prepare the infrastructure for disaster prevention, preparedness, and management. Crisis response framework including task force, Control centre, availability of tools and equipment for emergency response should be in place. It also includes having technology enabled infrastructure to track and catch illicit trade of drugs, human trafficking, illegal weapons, banned chemical and biomaterials. These things attack the basic structure of the civilized world and become drivers of future crises. As most of the world is doing their activities and transactions online, a robust cybercrime detection and prevention mechanism needs to be evolved at the highest level.

Green Tech to manage climate change and environment degradation: A lot of innovation is required to make new technologies green so that they do not further contribute negatively to climate change. All the new development needs to be human centered and based on ethical principles. More and more regions, industries, countries need to become carbon neutral. Carbon sinks needs to be preserved and scientists need to advise the communities to recover biodiversity. Special emphasis needs to be placed for preserving natural resources like clean water, air and soil which are essential for survival of the planet.  Sustainable supply chains need to be established for raw materials. There is an urgent need to evolve Industry alliances for better coordination and response to larger issues facing the world. It will help in scientific response to the societal challenges. For a balanced growth there is a need for green-tech revolution in agriculture, fisheries, and aquaculture. Also, there needs to holistic development of rural, urban, and coastal areas. Clean and sustainable energy will be the major theme that will cut across all sectors.

Healthcare: Healthcare will remain the top agenda for everyone for the next few decades. Promoting healthy lifestyle among the citizens should be the primary duty of the Government, NGOs, and community leaders. Access to quality healthcare for the citizens should be a fundamental right. Governments should continuously upgrade the tools and technologies to innovate niche healthcare systems. It is also essential to have an all-encompassing supporting shield for the global health care Industry to survive and grow. 

Infrastructure: Apart from the traditional infrastructure, modern world needs futuristic infrastructure in terms of communication, connectivity, and computing. Resilient Exa scale compute clusters, data storage infrastructure and an innovation ecosystem have become a critical requirement of any country. A significant portion of resources should also be spent on building NextGen communication networks that can survive attacks and work under constraints.  Connectivity has also evolved and needs to be green tech enabled including ports, satellite navigation, drones, tunnels, hyper-loops etc. Early adoption and experimentation of new technology will define the new world order. Environment friendly mobility will remain on top the list for scientists to evolve new mechanisms. Superior space technology will remain one of the key frontiers in the coming years.

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