- Session Type (Workshop, Open Forum, etc.):
Workshop
- Title:
Well-being in the Digital Age (OECD Going Digital Project)
- Date & Time:
12 November, 10:30-12:00
- Organizer(s):
Molly Lesher, Carlos da Fonseca and Marc Rotenberg
- Chair/Moderator:
Molly Lesher
- Rapporteur/Notetaker:
Molly Lesher
- List of speakers and their institutional affiliations (Indicate male/female/ transgender male/ transgender female/gender variant/prefer not to answer):
- Speaker 1: Fabrice Murtin, OECD (male)
- Speaker 2: Molly Lesher, OECD (female)
- Speaker 3: Mónica Aspé, Ambassador of Mexico to the OECD (female)
- Speaker 4: Carlos da Fonseca, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil (male)
- Speaker 5: Claire Milne, Antelope Consulting (female)
- Speaker 6: Valeria Milanes, Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council (female)
- Speaker 7: Makoto Yokozawa, Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (male)
- Speaker 8: Katie Watson, Internet Society, The Internet Society (female)
- Theme (as listed here):
Development, Innovation & Economic Issues
- Subtheme (as listed here):
Internet & the Environment; Internet for Development & SDGs
- Please state no more than three (3) key messages of the discussion.
- Connectivity underpins a positive and inclusive digital transformation.
- Three issues were identified as being critical to promoting well-being in a technology rich environment: skills, trust and quality work.
- The multi-stakeholder model was identified as essential to ensuring well-being in the digital age.
- Please elaborate on the discussion held, specifically on areas of agreement and divergence.
Well-being in the digital age is multi-faceted, and has varying ramifications for individuals and society as a whole. In particular, differences in quality access and connectivity persist across geography, while other factors like gender, age, income and level of education are often significant in determining the confident use of digital technologies. All panellists agreed that digital technologies could provide positive contributions for society, especially in terms of well-being, insofar as these technological tools are used appropriately provided that there is effective policy guidance. While many issues were mentioned, three stood out as being essential to ensuring well-being in the digital age.
First, skills were identified as one of the keys to making digital transformation positive and inclusive, and there was broad agreement that women and people of ethnic minorities are particularly impacted. Second, trust – including privacy, security and consumer protection – was identified as another important aspect to making digital transformation work for societal well-being. Indeed trust is earned when actions meet words, which is something that was widely agreed upon. As such, it was widely agreed that all stakeholders must work collaboratively in order to create a trustworthy and safe environment for the use of digital technologies and data. Third, quality work was identified as critical to promoting well-being in a technology-rich environment. In particular, participants highlighted that quality work is not just about a pay check, but about workers’ feelings of self-worth.
Participants agreed that ensuring that actors from bodies with diverse interests, from civil society to the business community, can help to ensure that policies are made with diverse and wide-ranging positive impacts. Ultimately, granting quality access and promoting the effective use of digital technologies across all portions of society will be a step closer towards ensuring well-being in an increasingly digital world.
- Please describe any policy recommendations or suggestions regarding the way forward/potential next steps.
While the OECD work to measure well-being from a digital perspective was much appreciated, the complexity of such an exercise requires the international community to work together to continue to push the well-being measurement agenda forward. This requires co-operation and co-ordination by the international statistical community and beyond. Participants also noted the need to expand access to digital technologies to all aspects of society, including rural and remote communities and those in the developing world. However, the panellists also noted that the benefits of digital technologies come from their use, which are often predicated on having digital skills. Therefore, initial policy recommendations must be primarily be two-fold. First, to provide access to digital technologies and, second, to provide tools and create environments in which to acquire the necessary digital skills needed for digital transformation. This would promote a holistic digital transformation of society with the intent of minimal drawbacks on societal well-being, whilst also striving to dispel any negative repercussions caused by a digital divide between those that possess digital skills and those that do not.
- What ideas surfaced in the discussion with respect to how the IGF ecosystem might make progress on this issue?
The panellists repeatedly mentioned the need to include many diverse communities and perspectives in the digital policymaking process, and affirmed the role of the multi-stakeholder process. To this end, the IGF eco-system can help to foster discussion and come to agreement on the cross-cutting issues associated with well-being in the digital age, including digital skills, trust and more. Moreover, it cannot be denied that, thanks to the United Nation’s wide-reaching convening power, the IGF’s geographical positioning at the UNESCO’s Headquarters in Paris this year meant that high-level officials and policy-makers were guaranteed to attend and therefore participate and foster progress on issues such as internet governance, which have proven to be so crucial in today’s digital transformation.
- Please estimate the total number of participants.
55-60
- Please estimate the total number of women and gender-variant individuals present.
20 (approximately 40%)
- To what extent did the session discuss gender issues, and if to any extent, what was the discussion?
The panellists underscored gender as a significant dimension that determines access to and the use of digital technologies, and noted that the digital gender divide constituted a major risk for well-being in the digital age. Other particular gender issues were discussed, including that men tend to work longer hours in digital intensive jobs than women. Conversely, however, it was also mentioned that digital transformation allows more women to access and leverage digital skills than ever before.
- Session outputs and other relevant links (URLs):
http://www.oecd.org/going-digital/topics/well-being/