Digital but still Unequal: The Challenges of Smart Technologies from a Comparative Perspective
Development experts and international cooperation agencies remained oblivious to the impact of digitalisation and smart technologies for a long time. Neither the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) nor the SDGs took adequate notice of the digital revolution. And yet, in the context of an increasing technological zeal among the developing community and the sense of being “back to the future”, a new danger lingers around: the belief that STs can work as magical bullets that can solve everything. Is this really the case?
This seminar aims at analysing some theoretical and empirical evidence on the relation between digitalisation and inequality. Some issues to be covered include: What are the threats and opportunities; costs and benefits of using STs to tackle development challenges? What is the role of structural inequalities? Can digital strategies reduce or increase persistent economic and social gaps?
Juan Carlos Domínguez Virgen, Professor at Instituto de Investigaciones Dr. José María Luis Mora, Mexico
Juan Carlos Domínguez Virgen is a full-time professor at Instituto Mora, a Mexican research centre and think tank specialised in sociology, history and international cooperation. He has more than 20 years of experience working on political, social and economic scenario analysis, both in the academic and consultancy sectors. Has published books, chapters, opinion articles and peer-reviewed articles in a number of journals in Mexico and abroad. His research interests include megaprojects, technology, public policy, social movements, culture, development and technological change.
He is currently a member of PRODIGEES (Promoting Research on Digitalisation in Emerging Powers and Europe towards Sustainable Development), an EU-funded project, aimed at consolidating a network of knowledge creation and knowledge sharing between Northern and Southern partners, on issues related to digitalisation, technological change and sustainable development. Partner institutions include Deutsches Institut fur Entwicklungspolitik (Germany), Istituto Affari Internazionali (Italy), Universität Hamburg (Germany), Instituto Mora (Mexico), Stellenbosch University (South Africa), Yayasan Pusat Pengkajian Malasah Strategi dan Internasional (Indonesia), Fundacao Getulio Vargas (Brazil), Research and Information System for Developing Countries (India), LUISS University (Italy) and Austrian Academy of Sciences - Institute of Technology Assessment (Austria).
He holds a BA in Economics from the Monterrey Institute of Technology (ITESM), a BA in Philosophy from Birkbeck College, UK and an MPhil and a DPhil in Development Studies from Oxford University, UK.