Page - 14 - in options, Volume winter 2019

to fast track the development of technologies that will enhance the competitiveness of their national economies and replacing the inevitable decrease of tax revenue that accompanies large-scale digitalization with new sources of income. Governance, communication, and misinformation in the digital age In light of the above, it is clear that new technologies and game-changing business models will provide governments with opportunities to work more inclusively as roles and responsibilities in both the public and private sectors will likely continue to blur, thus creating accountability and governance challenges. Governments often succeed or fail because of the way they engage with stakeholders, including citizens, in terms of decision-making processes and policy implementation, and in a digital age, it is becoming increasingly clear that governments ought to be proactive in the way they communicate and engage with citizens. “Digital tools can contribute greatly to learning, creating increased awareness and the sharing of information about various issues. They can also help to maintain the balance between social cohesion and respect for diversity as a foundation for democratic values and heterogeneous societies in terms of origins, culture, ethnicity, and religion. On the one hand, digitalization creates new challenges for interconnected critical infrastructure such as electricity networks, while on the other, it influences the risk perceptions of stakeholders and requires new decision support tools to address the impacts of the risk perceptions on their actions,” says Advanced Systems Analysis Program researcher Nadejda Komendantova. Unfortunately, misinformation is frequently transmitted along with valid information on social media platforms, especially when it comes to contested policy options. This is a serious threat inherent to digitalization – we have all seen the damage that fake news can do in a relatively short amount of time – and has the potential to devaluate the voices of public and private institutions and experts. To help address the misinformation issue, the Horizon 2020 IIASA Co-Inform project aims to evaluate the perceptions of policymaking stakeholders, but also of journalists, fact-checkers, and the users of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and to develop new tools to deal with misinformation. As part of a stakeholder-based process in three countries – Austria, Greece, and Sweden – IIASA researchers conducted decision-making experiments on the implementation of the tools and analyzed the reaction of stakeholders. The tools developed in the Co-Inform project include browser plug-ins, dashboards, and the misinform.me app. A changing sustainability paradigm If we can leverage the plethora of new technologies available to us effectively, we will be able to assess and anticipate risks, increase transparency and accountability in the management of natural resources, change markets, and inform consumer choice. These actions are all required if we are to stand a better chance of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As part of their mandate to provide science for the SDGs and develop pathways that build on synergies and multiple benefits, researchers from the IIASA-led The World in 2050 (TWI2050) initiative and collaborators from 20 partner institutions assessed the major opportunities and challenges that digital technologies pose to achieving the SDGs. According to the resulting report, these technologies can be beneficial on many fronts, including enabling decarbonization across all sectors and promoting circular and shared economies. This will however likely necessitate a radical reversal of current trends to harmonize the disruptive potentials of digitalization with pathways toward The Digital Revolu� on and Sustainable Development: Opportuni� es and Challenges Report prepared byThe World in 2050 ini� a� ve © Adam Islaam | IIASA 14 Options www.iiasa.ac.atWinter 2019/20