Create new social business models to fight ‘digital divide’, urge Millennial generation at One Young World summit

By , 18 October 2013 at 11:18
Create new social business models to fight ‘digital divide’, urge Millennial generation at One Young World summit
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Create new social business models to fight ‘digital divide’, urge Millennial generation at One Young World summit

By , 18 October 2013 at 11:18

By Elishka Flint (@elishkaflint), Finance and Professional Services, Telefonica UK

18 October, 2013: Earlier this month, annual summit One Young World brought together over 1,300 bright young people from 190 countries in Johannesburg to discuss and take action on some very pressing global issues – obstacles to universal education, human rights abuse and the role of global business to name a few. While this year’s delegation was diverse in terms of provenance, opinions and priorities, we all shared one attribute: that of being digital natives as part of the millennial generation.

Advanced digital literacy was on show throughout the conference. Delegates tweeted, blogged, instagrammed, vined, podcasted and googled while watching brilliant speakers of the likes of Kofi Annan, Arianna Huffington and Richard Branson. Real world interactions often found their way into the digital space where connections were made and the debate continued.

Again and again, we were reminded of the power of these tools to shape the future we want to see. As Professor Mohammed Yunus said – as a result of social media allowing us to collaborate internationally, we are not “a special generation, but a very lucky one”.

One Young World has indeed already spawned a number of great initiatives aided and accelerated by technology and social media. For example, Teach Surf is a new platform which links travellers to foreign communities so they can pass on their expertise to locals. We heard from Malaria No More and Medic Mobile – two organisations using mobile technology to combat disease in Africa incredibly effectively.

The Telefonica Millennials Survey has confirmed that young people are keenly aware of the potential of technology, with 83% of those surveyed saying that technology makes it easier to get a job.

However, throughout the summit I couldn’t help contrasting these digital millennials to the elderly Londoners to whom I teach basic digital skills such as how to send a text message. For these digital novices, a simple mobile phone menu might as well be written in different language for which no dictionary exists and they make up just a small part of the 10.8mn people in the UK without digital access or skills.

Surely it’s a no-brainer? We all benefit if we can help individuals and organisations get online

Without thinking twice, we digital natives use the internet to research and learn, compare prices, communicate with each other, search for jobs, take advantage of offers and discounts, start businesses and collaborate. These tools are making life better and easier for the majority but what about the minority who cannot take advantage of them due to lack of access or skills? Economic inequality was shown to be a major global concern throughout One Young World and it surely risks being further exacerbated if this digital divide is allowed to persist and grow.

On the other hand, the economic potential of universal digitisation could be spectacular – earlier this year Booz and Company estimated that closing the UK’s digital gap alone could result in a £63 billion GDP uplift. The same report shows a compelling social case for digitisation – with meaningful access to internet resulting in, for example, a reduction in social isolation and depression. Surely it’s a no-brainer? We all benefit if we can help individuals and organisations get online.

Solutions to this global issue were put forward by delegates from all over the world during Telefonica’s breakout session entitled “Digital Economy: Friend or Foe”. It was clear that a holistic approach is needed with collaboration between business, government and NGOs. This point was underlined when, on the day after One Young World, five of us went out to a township in Soweto to teach disadvantaged teenagers digital skills, making use of a computer lab which had just been built there with funding from CNN. With a Google employee in our group, in just a couple of hours we were able to show these kids how to create their own website on Google Sites to much amazement and excitement. Initiatives such as Telefonica’s Think Big Schools and Go On, UK’s digital mentoring programme are great examples of this vital collaboration in the UK but we can still do more.

After One Young World, I am going to be looking at how we could be using new social business models to fight the digital divide – in terms of both access and skills. As young people taking advantage of all things digital, we need to take a responsible, active role here – and a more urgent focus on how we bring everyone into the digital economy has got to be at the heart of that.

For more views and opinions from our millennial delegates at this year’s One Young World, click here.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/5th_Wvrj9Sg[/youtube]

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