To begin with, let’s imagine that we are on a plane in the sky, sitting comfortably, some of us eating, some of us drinking, some of us playing, some of us falling asleep, and some of us thinking about the actions that we will take when it comes down, then suddenly we discover, through a message recorded in the loudspeakers, that the undercarriage bay is empty, then the autopilot leads us to an airport that is still being planned, and whose construction has not yet been completed! This picture may be frightening, but it expresses the absence of governance we are experiencing in this digital world. We are afraid of the absence of governance, and before that, we are afraid of not knowing what we can face tomorrow in the light of this absence.
The immersion in the experience of a complete transformation towards digital worlds has become imminent, and it is close to the horizon, or below the inclusiveness of all aspects of life, and its trends, reinforced by the process of social distancing imposed by the Corona pandemic, and what is emerging every day of its consequences and effects.
In any case, everything we find now will be reformulated to accommodate the data and means of technology, starting with the forms of social, economic, educational, cultural and media dealings, and all areas and trends of human life.
If the current situation has imposed on people to withdraw from the tracks of social life, then this withdrawal also requires, at the same time, the departure to more spacious tracks through other tools, which are the tools of technology, even if the traditional markets have geographical boundaries that man has no ability to cross. Easily, the transformations, first due to the pandemic, and without it, after a long time, have forced immersion in a new experience of its markets in a dimension that has no geographical boundaries, meaning that success now in this experiment represents global success in one way or another. Because the context of these dealings is considered an open context, and competition in all fields exceeds the boundaries of the place that we have been accustomed to in traditional forms, and has become limitless, had it not been that the essential difference that distinguishes the traditional local level from the new alternative that is characterized by globalism, and which lies in the existence of regulations that frame and organize the movement, then everyone is equal in the opportunities they get, just as they are equal under these regulations, in terms of their rights that are guaranteed to them, and the duties that they have.
As it appears, the most that governments do today is try to force technology companies to violate the privacy of customers and users to serve their purposes and objectives as per the existence of texts and legislation that frame the movement in this open, virtual world and secure the users and visitors to it, and those working in its fields, in a way of responsibility and commitment, so that they have rights and duties. This is what the digital space generally lacks.
Activating cybersecurity in this digital space constitutes an important point in the context of searching for answers to the reasons for the absence of governance, and this may mitigate the burden of the lack of awareness in digital practice in all its diversities and fields. If awareness is absent, then some governance must not be absent, at least, to complete the formal details of the institutions governing the digital world around the world.
Human civilization has not flourished at any time, except through the integration of three pillars that work together in parallel and in one context, the first of which is the availability of governance tools and binding laws, then the presence of tools for creating awareness, education, and knowledge, and finally self-awareness and accountability; neither can any corner be effective, nor mentioned in a context independent of the three pillars being consistent with each other, and for this reason, it is not possible to talk about any renaissance in the digital world or technology in the absence of governance and the human awareness which knowledge creates. And to talk the rest.
Author : Manahel Thabet
Published December 22, 2020
Al Bayan Newspaper
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