Breaking it down: Resilient Infrastructure, Sustainable Industrialization and Innovation
On Oct 29th I travelled with my family from Basel to Berlin by train. It was the day when a heavy storm raged in Northern Europe. Instead of the scheduled seven hours, the trip took us 13 because the railway tracks to Hamburg and Berlin were closed to traffic. Only by switching trains on other routes were we able to arrive that day.
The example above shows that the industry, innovation and infrastructure goal does not only concern developing countries. A lack of basic infrastructure like electricity supply, financial services, and reliable telephone network coverage together with access to the internet will prevent developing countries’ efforts to further progress their industrialization. Non Initiation of industrialization in turn will not provide a sufficient number of decent jobs for the population in these countries. Deprived of their pursuit of a better life, a larger number of people will draw the consequences and leave their place which will cause further and stronger migration waves in the future.
Development of a resilient infrastructure to foster innovation and sustainable industrialization is not a goal targeted to less developed countries only. The appearance of companies like Uber and Airbnb both deploy technology and utilize infrastructure to create new business models and potentially disrupt entire industries, poses a challenge also to developed countries. Related to that, is the question of net neutrality which ultimately asks who controls the internet.
And last but not least, how can infrastructure be protected against cyber-attacks from criminals or as part of a military conflict? This does not relate to the internet itself but to electricity supply, financial services and the transport system.
Emerging innovative technologies have the potential to solve the most pestering infrastructure issues. Energy can be produced from regenerative sources like wind and solar and provided in decentralized units and thus avoid investments in coal-fired power plants with the effect of less carbon emissions.
The infrastructure of financial services is going to change through the emergence of technology. E.g. blockchain technology has the potential to eliminate so-called middle men instances to certify transactions and hence open it to users who were excluded so far.
Advances in the telecommunication industry and initiatives like Project Loon will extend connectivity to rural and remote areas. Internet access via smartphones will increase the availability of information and enable new business models. Already today there are numerous apps targeted to African farmers to support their business (from buying seeds to inform about market prices for agricultural goods and veterinary services)
The notion of resiliency in infrastructure creates new demand which potentially translates into new businesses. The same is true for the so-called sharing economy. As a consequence of digitalization our understanding of infrastructure can be expanded into completely new areas like cars or beds as the example of Uber and Airbnb demonstrates.
To seize the opportunity and to industrialize and innovate in a sustainable manner, stakeholders need to be aware of the importance of infrastructure. Rather than assuming infrastructure as a given resource, it needs to be seen both as a common good which benefits all yet needs to be maintained and protected by all users. Only a resilient infrastructure enables sustainable industrialization and innovation.
Written by
StartFragment
Christian Thoene, Expert new technologies
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not The Sustainability Tribe.
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