Sharjah: A panel of experts at the 11th International Government Communication Forum (IGCF) have made a compelling case for phasing out old paradigms with innovative ones amid rapid global changes for the collective good to match the needs of the present day.

At the discussion on ‘Creative Destruction - What did the world gain?’ held on the concluding day of IGCF 2022 at Expo Centre Sharjah, experts called for the need to communicate efficiently the ground realities and developments taking place around the world, and disclose the needs of the future in a transparent way to meet the aspirations of the youth.

Discussing the nature of the new wave of ‘creative destruction’, experts emphasised the need to prepare for the new economic dynamism by investing in human capital for governments to facilitate the process through innovation, creativity and an entrepreneurial mindset.

Speaking at the panel session, Dr. Thabet Al Nabulsi, founder & Chairman of Challenger Team for Consultation, said, “Creating a new behaviour is easier than rectifying the existing behaviour; creating a new behaviour requires innovation.”

Linda Yueh, leading economist, broadcaster, and author, said: “If the incumbents of big businesses do not ramp up their deliverables, they will be surpassed by the startups; in turn, the latter could be bought by the incumbents.”

She added, “New economic policies could hopefully cushion the impact on people in a crisis, but you cannot use the economic policy to forestall something in global crises of this magnitude. But a dynamic economic policy can help with the recovery.”

While the new economic reality lays unprecedented stress on people, governments can help through interventions that help control spiraling price rise, place caps on household bills, and more, she added.

Innovations, entrepreneurship and sustainability are seen as crucial to cushioning the impact of the current economic challenges and new technologies and Artificial Intelligence are now leading the way in the ongoing transformations.

Mark Friedman, Officer of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, App Inventor Foundation, explained the creative destruction process with reference to disruptions caused by software at the height of the computer revolution. “The phrase, ‘software is eating the world’ had become ubiquitous in business during that period, and now, AI is eating software. With AI’s creative destruction, conventional computer programming might go out of the window.”

Saud Kateb, Saudi diplomat and media writer, said that advanced technologies are inevitable disruptors required for the good of the world. He said: “The youth and pre-youth of today are way ahead in this direction compared to their parents, especially in the domain of computer science related technologies. There is no doubt that the youth are highly engaged with technology, therefore it is key to have them as partners in decision making, raise their awareness on the negative aspects of technology, focus on developing their skills and expertise in this field, and make use of its positive elements and deal with the negative in an agile manner.”

The speakers concluded that the old ways of thinking, governance, processes, paradigms and practices will have to be phased out to meet the requirements of the new world order of automation, AI, and innovation that are initiated, enabled and supported by respective governments.

-Ends-