A new global plan

This week, I will be attending the Xyntéo Exchange in Norway. The Xyntéo Exchange is a forum that brings leaders together from business, start-ups, academia, research institutions and government.  The theme of the event is reinventing growth, while at the same time combatting some of the large problems that we are facing around the world. As a business leader who is engaged in global social issues, I wanted to share some of my views, with the hope of encouraging more leaders in the private sector to get involved.

As the 21st century progresses, the world faces great challenges, such as poverty, climate change, inequality, environmental pollution, and civil wars. We need a new global plan to address these issues.

At the same time, the global pace of change is unprecedented, fuelled by a technology revolution that is currently outrunning us.  It is a big challenge to keep up with the speed of the change as more and more people and societies are connected.

Until now, the pace of technology change has been relatively slow, but it will accelerate exponentially going forward.

To illustrate this point, let’s look back at how information and communication technology (ICT) has evolved.  It took 100 years to get 1 billion fixed telephone lines, it took 25 years to get 5 billion mobile phone users, and it took some 20 years to get 3 billion people on the Internet. By contrast, in the next 5 years, 3 billion more people will be connected to the Internet. At the same time, the ecosystem will expand from millions of connected devices to billions.  With 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT) becoming a reality, ICT is truly the 21st century infrastructure with the capability to transform people, industries, and society.  

With this as a backdrop, we need to put a more focused effort on ensuring that this technology revolution is a positive force for all stakeholders in our society.

I have participated in many public-private sector initiatives that helped to define and develop the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were adopted by all UN member states in 2015.  The 17 SDGs address our current global challenges. I also advocated publicly for many years for the addition of an 18th goal, specific to ICT, but that effort did not succeed. Along the way, I learned that connectivity, mobility, broadband, and the Internet are critical enablers for reaching all of the goals and even more importantly they can accelerate the pace at which we can achieve all of the SDGs. Think digital healthcare, smart cities, digital education, and better-informed societies. The ability of a government to deliver more efficient and effective services to its citizens, and the ability of citizens themselves to be more actively involved in all levels of society, can lead to reduced inequality and improved fairness and justice for all citizens.

ICT is an enabler, but it also brings challenges. We need to collaborate across borders as we have never done before. Public – private partnerships need to evolve quickly. The public sector needs to embrace digitalization by incentivizing the development of technologies to benefit citizens. There also needs to be competence in governments to deal with new technologies. Privacy needs to be protected, security needs to be ensured, and greater transparency is needed in order to create a new type of compact, or trust, among citizens, governments.

The private sector must adapt and evolve along with the new technological realities; and do it fast. We saw the danger of complacency and paralysis during the last major industrial revolution during which incumbent companies struggled to change. Seeking to avoid those pitfalls is keeping me occupied, both personally and professionally, and my journey continues in my new role at Verizon – one of the leading communications and technology companies in the world.  

Companies need to evolve to be more purpose-driven to meet 21st century demands and to see that they attend to social stakeholders in addition to shareholders, customers, and employees. Given the magnitude of the challenges that we face, we need to conduct business in a way that also includes humanity, people, and society. Stakeholder expectations are increasing, and companies are expected to be part of the solution in addressing global problems.

It is not only the right thing to do; it is also the smart thing to do. The business case for sustainable development has never been greater. A recently released report by the Business and Sustainable Development Commission outlined a US $12 trillion economic prize and the creation of up to 380 million jobs by 2030 for companies that embed sustainability and the SDGs within their business models – an impressive business case for action.

At the Xyntéo Exchange, we will have a conversation among business leaders, academics and researchers, and innovative entrepreneurs. We will explore commercial solutions designed to improve the world for humanity, and that put humanity at the core.  I see improvements on the public and private sector of today’s world, but time is of the essence and we need more bold leaders in the private and public sectors to engage in addressing today’s challenges. We need a 21st century that builds on public-private trust, technology solutions that can scale, and perhaps most importantly, an informed and engaged public.

Hans Vestberg, EVP and President of Global Networks, Verizon; Board member UN Foundation and co-chair of Xyntéo Exchange/Norway