Civil society, the missing link as we enter humanity’s Fourth Industrial Revolution

   
The role of civil society

The role of civil society in the Fourth Industrial Revolution is not just about using technology, however. Civil society organisations must play a key role in highlighting how technological development can negatively impact vulnerable people and communities, the groups they are trusted to serve. And let’s face it, emerging technology has shown a dark side.

This was brought into sharp focus last year with the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal. The question of how our online personal data is used will remain at the forefront of public attention. Likewise, there is a growing awareness that when algorithms are trained using data that contains historical biases, they exhibit and strengthen those same biases; and that this is having a real-world impact. People, due to their gender or skin colour, sometimes end up on the wrong side of automated decisions and this clearly has to stop.

Civil society organisations can bring to light the ways in which technology is affecting real people’s lives, and work with tech companies to ensure they minimise any unintended negative consequences. But we may also need to question some of our assumptions about the inevitability of technological development; and challenge the idea that problems with profound societal implications can be seen merely as questions of “tech ethics”, and dealt with from within the tech sector itself. In some cases, more traditional mechanisms of legislation and policy may be necessary.

The tech sector must acknowledge civil society

Civil society should rightly value the tech sector for its vast range of skills and tools, which are already transforming lives around the world for the better, but at the same time the tech sector has to acknowledge the perspective of civil society organisations. Let’s be reasonable here and recognise that this will not happen automatically. There is a huge power imbalance between civil society organisations and multi-billion dollar tech companies.

And even when they do meet they often seem to be speaking a different language. Organisations like the WEF therefore have a vital function in bridging the gap between these worlds and enabling all sides to engage in a meaningful way.

protecting humanity

Whenever there was a previous industrial revolution, civil society was involved in the huge social changes that resulted, fighting for fairness and equality. From the abolition of child labour to the introduction of clean air legislation, the work of civil society has helped to protect people from the harm done by technological change whilst ensuring that positive progress was shared as widely as possible.

As we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution, civil society needs to play this role once more. The WEF’s new project offers a valuable platform to ensure this happens, and we look forward to working with them and many others to make this vision a reality.