Investments in connectivity: Open Dialogue essayists propose solutions for a multipolar digital world

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The second day of the Open Dialogue "The Future of the World. A New Platform for Global Growth" on 28 April was dedicated to public discussions of ideas proposed by essayists from various countries across four areas: investments in human capital, connectivity, technology, and environment. Four semi-finalists presented in the "Investments in Connectivity" vector: Ivan Shumilov (Russia), Francisco Tuñez (Argentina), Andrés Giussepe (Venezuela), and Solomon Gardie (Ethiopia).

The economist at the TALAP Centre for Applied Research (Kazakhstan), Rakhim Oshakbayev, served as an expert and jury member. He admitted that many of his colleagues' essays were imbued with "starry-eyed optimism" and a belief in universal unity; however, he pointed out several pain points in this area.

"When we invest in connectivity, we must first look at its resilience: whether it can withstand the blows that are undoubtedly already being dealt and will continue to be dealt. Therefore, the main rule of survival is the availability of an alternative, not efficiency. We must adhere to an 'armour architecture' that includes four main aspects: self-sufficiency of infrastructure connectivity, digital sovereignty, secure transactions, as well as redundancy and overcapacity," noted Rakhim Oshakbayev.

Drawing on the experience of one of his former teachers, as well as his personal journey from working in the public sector to studying blockchain, the semi-finalist of the II Open Dialogue for the "Investments in Connectivity" vector, PhD in Global Histories and co-founder of NetX Gen, Francisco Tuñez, stated that the mental superiority of humans lies in imagination. According to the speaker, it is imagination that is sufficient to envision a planet with an abundance of resources and technology, and then to bring these visions to life. 

"My idea of regeneration is not a hippie idea. It is both critical infrastructure and human innovation at the same time. Any problem is already part of the solution, as our mental system has great capabilities, and first and foremost, it is our imagination. We make images act. And if they are powerful enough, they will help us create what we want to have in reality," Francisco Tuñez is convinced.

Semi-finalist of the II Open Dialogue for the "Investments in Connectivity" vector and director and founder of ABV, Ivan Shumilov, told colleagues how a personal catastrophe — when he lost 90% of all his resources — led him to create the concept of a decentralised internet: a digital infrastructure of trust and connectivity.

"I want every person in the world to have the opportunity to develop globally and not depend on the manipulations of global platforms and hegemonic countries. Look at what is happening to the internet today. Four global companies control 70% of global traffic. 85% of all data is controlled by tech giants, and they do not want to let it go easily. Therefore, they create a pseudo-architecture, supposedly decentralised, but still tied to a centre that controls data and liquidity. I propose a decentralised internet from a multipolar world. In each country, communities create IT ecosystems, data is verified there, and the software code executes the rules. This forms a national alpha-node, and countries gain an efficiency increase of 3 to 5 times," explained Ivan Shumilov.

Only ten countries on the planet exist where more than 50% of income is distributed in favour of workers, and the BRICS countries can and should change this, said semi-finalist of the II Open Dialogue for the "Investments in Connectivity" vector and economist at Poli-data.com, Andrés Giussepe. According to him, it is fair distribution that is the basis of any country's sovereignty.

"Currently, sanctions can be imposed on you, or you can be blocked if you are already a successful economy, and this brings risks. Let us begin the transition to a different system. Our model is: 60% economic sovereignty and 40% systemic well-being. The target for each country is to achieve a fifty per cent income distribution in favour of workers," proposed Andrés Giussepe.

The winner in the "Investments in Connectivity" category was Solomon Gardie, a postgraduate student at Addis Ababa University. In his seven-minute presentation, he called digital data "the gold of our time" and outlined a new challenge facing the countries of the Global South today. According to him, data generated on their territory is processed outside of it, and countries do not receive a fair share of this resource. The speaker called the current system "extractive" and proposed the concept of "sovereign data mobility" within BRICS.

"Data is our resource, just like oil or gold in the past. It is the new gold of our time. The data of Global South countries, including Ethiopia, China, and Russia, is data taken from our computers and our networks. But it is not processed here. It is unstructured data, and we do not get a fair share of what we are entitled to claim. I propose a solution which lies in sovereign data mobility. We create data corridors that ensure data processing without its transfer. That is, local data is extracted and then safely processed within the country itself. And to manage all of this, I propose creating a data mobility working group within BRICS," said Solomon Gardie.

The Open Dialogue "The Future of the World. A New Platform for Global Growth" is an annual international event initiated by the National Centre RUSSIA in partnership with the Centre for Cross-Industry Expertise "Third Rome" and with the support of the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation. This year, for participation in the II Open Dialogue, authors from 98 countries submitted 1,638 essays on topical issues: the impact of artificial intelligence on humans and the future of professions, demographic challenges, institutional crisis, digital equality, migration issues, and the accessibility of education.

On 29 April, participants can expect the summary of the II Open Dialogue results. Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office and Deputy Chairman of the National Centre RUSSIA Organising Committee, will hold an informal meeting with young people, followed by a final epilogue session where the main conclusions and directions for further work will be formulated.