Future. Future! Future? Technology worldwide – between utopia and dystopia (en)

re:publica 17 - Politics & Society

In what kind of a world do we want to live in? How should our future look like in 10 or 15 years? Digital transformation is changing the way we live and work in Germany as well as in developing and emerging countries. Between Sci-Fi, 1984 and utopia everything seems possible. In our futuristic journey, we want to look at questions such as: What is the role of information and communication technologies and digital trends for people in our partner countries today and in the future? Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, highlights these questions together with exciting guests.

• Thomas Silberhorn
• Puno Selesho
• Kamau Gachigi
• Wolfgang Fengler
• Ahmad Mobayed
• Joana Breidenbach
• Melanie Stein

The digital transformation oscillates between the extremes: hate speech, surveillance, automation in the world of work on the one hand. On the other hand - access to education online, drones as suppliers in remote areas, transparency and participation. The reality and our future are somewhere in between. But how do we achieve a balance in a globalized world? In a world in which the realities of people could not be more different. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is asking itself precisely this question.

In this session, we highlight various future scenarios. What kind of digital technologies are going to prevail and determine our lives in the year 2030? What kind of digital technologies might take hold in developing and emerging countries in the long run?

We invited exciting guests who will present their insights and do a ‘reality check’ with us to see what is really possible.