Why I Am an Optimist

Humanity is our greatest enterprise. The word “enterprise” by definition means a great undertaking or project. One that is typically important or difficult and requires a great boldness of energy. The achievements I discuss in this post are based on a tremendous enterprise of spirit.

Together, we can achieve great things. We are already making tremendous progress in creating a safer and healthier planet. Children are living longer and healthier lives, and more women and children are going to school. Education and literacy rates are rising while extreme poverty is declining.

There is cause for optimism rooted in these positive global trends.

We are just at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution. Few things have the power to transform our world as rapidly and radically as digital technology.

This makes me an optimist.

One of the most important achievements to date is the decline in child mortality. In just over 50 years, the rate has decreased to 4%, despite the population growing in developing regions. Since 1990, the number of children who die each year has been cut in half and is still declining.

The eradication of diseases like measles, smallpox and polio through vaccinations has been credited for this decline. The measles vaccination helped prevent almost 15.6 million deaths between 2000 and 2013, inciting a 67% decline in the reported cases of measles globally.

Along with the decline in child mortality, we are living longer lives. This is another reason to be optimistic. Our life expectancy has been on a steady upward trend. Over the last 55 years, global life expectancy has risen by almost 20 years.

Global Decreases in Child Mortality and Increases in Overall Life Expectancy

Economic growth has transformed our world, with poverty falling consistently over the last two centuries. It is amazing to think that, at a time when the population has grown sevenfold, we are lifting more and more people out of poverty.

Fewer countries than ever are in the world’s lowest income bracket. Since 1981, the proportion of people living under the poverty line (on $1.25 a day) has decreased by 65%. And the number of people living in extreme poverty has been more than cut in half over the last 25 years. More than one billion fewer people were living in poverty in 2015 than in 1990.

Improvements to Global Poverty and Access to Basic Needs

Poor people in low-income countries suffer from high rates of infectious diseases and malnutrition. These conditions are brought on by limited access to food, clean water, sanitation, electricity and shelter. Without these basic needs, the lives of millions of children are at risk. WHO estimates that each year the deaths of 297,000 children under 5-years-old could be avoided by addressing water and sanitation risks.

Despite this estimate, millions of people have been given better access to basic needs since 1990. In fact, 91% of the global population has access to higher quality water (protected from contamination), up from 76% in 1990.

I am also optimistic because over the past two centuries, global education and literacy rates have risen, predominantly due to an increase in enrollment in primary education.

Increases in Education, Literacy and Countries with Women’s Suffrage

Access to basic education is considered a right, provided by the government in many countries. A higher quality of education results in lower levels of poverty (through higher individual income) and helps to build social capital and long-term economic growth.

The Empowerment of Women is a trend that makes me optimistic for the future.

As a global movement, empowering girls and women results in economic growth, political stability and societal transformation. The good news is that women’s participation in the workforce is on the upswing. Between 2005 and 2015, an extra quarter of a billion women entered the workforce.

Today, woman have the right to vote in every country (except Vatican City). Empowered women and girls have the potential to be the leaders of tomorrow and transform our world.

I am also optimistic because many of the world’s countries are now governed by democratic regimes. As of 2018, 99 out of 179 countries (55%) were democracies rather than autocracies, with an upward trajectory. Democratic countries are typically more open, healthier, have higher educational attainment and human rights are better protected.

A democratic world is a very recent achievement. While there is much room for improvement, democracy overall has made significant progress over the last 40 years.

Exponential Growth in Global Democracy and Trade

Global trade has followed an exponential growth path. It has been rumored that French economist Claude-Frédéric Bastiat once said, “When goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will.” International trade has grown exponentially in the years between 1800 and 2010, with a rising proportion of goods and services (rather than soldiers) crossing borders.

Planetary connectivity with three billion users also gives me hope for the future. Around 56% of the world has internet connection today; in 1995, it was less than one percent.

Global Connectivity on the Rise

There are enough mobile phones available for more than current population of the world. More than two-thirds of people are connected by mobile devices. 

Technological advances are built on seamless connectivity—between people, places and things. Improved connectivity gives us the ability to apply technologies like machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and the Internet of Things (IoT) to address global issues such as poverty, climate change and infectious diseases.

We still have work to do

Despite these great achievements, we still have work to do in Climate and Food Quality/Waste.

One in nine people on earth do not have access to the nutrients they need for proper development and health. As with many issues that are exacerbated by extreme poverty, it is often the youngest who are the most vulnerable.

According to UNICEF, in 2017 there were seven children under the age of five dying every two minutes around the world. Climate change and wars are escalating the refugee crisis. Global food loss and waste (1.3 billion tons worth) cost almost $1 trillion per year and generates 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

While the hurdles to overcome are high, digital technology and the data it produces keeps me optimistic.

Digital technology is driving a renewed environmentalism. As far as climate change is concerned, it is possible to limit the increase in global mean temperature to 2 degrees Celsius, but this will involve a variety of technological measures.

A focus on affordable clean energy will also help offset climate change. Some organizations are transforming research into marketable products. Canadian company General Fusion aims to be the first in the world to create a commercially viable nuclear-fusion-energy power plant. Carbon Engineering is a start-up that is taking carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and using it to produce fuel. At a general level, automation is giving major retailers the ability to cut billions of tons of carbon dioxide from their global supply chain—more than the annual emissions of Germany. All these endeavors contribute to preserving our planet.

The fourth industrial revolution is changing how we grow, buy and choose what we eat. In 2017, a robotic farm in the UK harvested its first fully machine-operated crop. Five tons of barley was sown, fertilized and harvested by autonomous vehicles. In the coming years, digital technologies in agriculture will have a sizeable market coverage around the world.

Advances in IoT-related technologies can help eliminate key causes of food waste. Using sensor data, AI and analytics, the IoT can improve the yield from both harvesting and storage and streamline distribution networks. As a 24/7 monitoring system of perishable and sensitive foods, the IoT extends the shelf life of produce and enables surplus foods to be shared. Information related to consumption and waste can be collected, monitored and analyzed for optimized agriculture systems that help eliminate food waste and combat world hunger.

We at OpenText are dedicated to our roles as responsible corporate citizens. Our Enterprise Information Management (EIM) solutions will continue to equip the Intelligent and Connected Enterprise to use information for the good—to create the world’s best businesses, design and market lifechanging products, fuel top talent and empowerment, and improve health, safety and quality of life.

This is my final post in this series. Thank you for reading about today’s technology trends, their impact on the enterprise and how OpenText EIM delivers the Intelligent and Connected Enterprise. I hope it has inspired you to unlock the potential of your organization’s information.

I have recently released a new whitepaper called The Information Advantage, where I discuss how every company must become an information company and how the enterprise can attain an information advantage using technologies like automation, AI, and especially EIM. I encourage you to read it and think about how your business will thrive in the Information Era.