Sharjah: In the hands of wrongdoers, technology such as social media and smart devices is a dangerous weapon, especially when aimed at children, warned His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.
His comments came during his address at the opening ceremony of the International Government Communication Forum (IGCF) at Expo Centre Sharjah on Wednesday.
Dr Shaikh Sultan said such technology has the power to mislead children and control them as puppets wherever they are, describing its overuse as an addiction.
He added that adults and leaders have a responsibility to keep a watchful eye on the children’s use of such means of communication, whose proliferation has become chaotic.
He described the trend as a bulldozer flattening everything in its path. However, Dr Shaikh Sultan said society should not close the doors on such technology, but rather use knowledge to prevent its misuse. He said only when we immunise society against the negative aspects of such means can we embrace and promote this kind of digital technology. The Sharjah Ruler called on IGCF delegates to find answers to this predicament.
He also spoke about the need for the Arab world to supersede the “defeat of 1967”, alluding to the war in that year between Arab states and Israel.
“The 1967 war forever changed the fate of the Arab world, whose repercussions continue to reverberate around the Middle East. Suddenly, Arab citizens found themselves entering a zone of crisis — of identity and of the human project. We, as people, need to overcome this defeat, re-establish a common Arab identity, and form a strong society based on unity of purpose reflected in creating a safe future for our children.”
The Ruler of Sharjah continued: “Technology, if in the wrong hands, can be a dangerous weapon that has the power to turn people into mere puppets. We need to immunise ourselves not by shutting our doors to technology, but by building strong safeguards against misuse, and keep a watchful eye over our sons and daughters.
“The unsupervised and almost anarchist use of technology by our sons and daughters is slowly leading them into isolation, and we must stop this. This we have to do by guiding our children to use technology beneficially. This I strongly endorse as a collective responsibility, which begins at home and in schools and extends to government as well as private actors.”
Digital revolution
Earlier in Wednesday’s ceremony, Shaikh Sultan Bin Ahmad Al Qasimi, chairman of the Sharjah Media Council, described what the world could be like in 2045, where children could have chip implants, instead of mobile phones, to communicate or be linked to thousands of computers. He said such ideas may seem impossible now, but 20 years ago smartphones were also a distant thought. His point was that today we are at the brink of an era where current technology will become obsolete, replaced by a digital revolution, which has removed the barriers between the government and the governed.
Shaikh Sultan said technology will change the way we communicate and governments cannot afford to lag behind in adopting the latest trends.
Over 40 speakers from 16 countries are participating in 11 discussion panels, addressing diverse themes like ‘Digital Diplomacy in Government Communication’, ‘Media Charisma’, ‘New Media in Serving Humanitarian Issues’, and ‘The Future of Communication’.
The forum’s programme is showcasing the best practices and pioneering expertise in this field. It comprises training workshops conducted by a host of global organisations’ representatives and several media and technology companies.
‘Dark underbelly’
Wednesday’s speakers included Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius; Sir Timothy John Berners Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and president of the Open Data Institute; and Tanmay Bakshi, said to be the youngest Artificial Intelligence (AI) expert in the world and member of IBM’s AI Team in Canada.
Gurib-Fakim spoke about the “dark underbelly” of ‘Big Data’ in the context of the ongoing controversy where a firm, called Cambridge Analytica, allegedly exploited the data of millions of Facebook users to influence elections. She said the best way to prevent “manipulation” was to be transparent in government communications.
Gurib-Fakim also pointed out that social media has made communications speedy and inexpensive, but also “burdens” the government to communicate with the public promptly, clearly and accurately. She added that if government communications cannot be trusted, the trust gap will be filled by agendas hostile to national interests.
Gurib-Fakim also spoke about gender inequality in media, saying men still dominate the reporting of hard news.
