INNOVATIVE, ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITIES ARE KEY FOR SUCCESS IN 21ST CENTURY’S ‘EXPONENTIAL TIMES’ By Shawn Kelly, Director of External Relations at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand
In early 2018, drought-stricken Cape Town, South Africa faced the dire prospect of becoming the first modern metropolis in history to run dry. For the city of 4 million, ‘Day Zero’ loomed on May 11 – the day all tap water was set to stop. And though southern hemisphere winter rains gave the city a miraculous last-minute reprieve, this catastrophic potentiality was yet another sign that the world is at a critical inflection point.
So it could be said that we are living in “exponential times” paced by extraordinarily fast alterations in human health, climate, biodiversity, ecosystems, demographics, transportation, information and communications, and game-changing technologies such as bioengineering, machine learning and artificial intelligence (A.I.). As such, universities must change. Our sustainable future will require a paradigm shift advanced by a new generation of leaders capable of tackling the enormous challenges of our time to achieve human well-being in the context of planetary well-being.
Scientists warn that humanity is dangerously transgressing a number of ecological limits through unsustainable use of fossil fuels, food, water, and biodiversity. Overall, resources are depleting to the point that the earth’s ecological footprint is said to be 1.6 planets, indicating higher consumption levels compared to earth’s ability to replenish its resources. All of this is underscored by the luminescent threat and consequences of global climate change. Indeed, experts opine that a perfect storm of financial, ecological and social crises may be at hand.
Here, universities have a key leadership role to play by producing globally responsible citizens, thought leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators. Indeed, the UNESCO publication, Rethinking Education: Towards a Global Common Good, notes that enlightened higher education institutions (HEIs) are central to the successful advancement of societies when they calibrate their education and research-spawned new knowledge towards addressing problems affecting people and places across borders and boundaries.
In our globalized, interconnected world, a number of megatrends are challenging the very fabric of societies like never before. Earth’s temperature is rising, and it is getting more crowded and urbanized by the day. In fact, in the last 200 years the human population increased from 1 billion to about 7.5 billion people. In 1800, only 3% of the world’s populations lived in cities – today over 50% of humanity call urban areas home. Rapid urbanization combined with growing socioeconomic inequality are profound forces driving political and economic change.
Insightful leaders realize that the time is now for higher education systems to equip students with the creativity and competencies to stimulate life-long learning, and to nurture citizens who can act on issues of national and global significance, such as the need for green approaches to living. To be sure, those universities that produce legions of ‘green job creators’ rather than out-of-date ‘job seekers’ will reap the most rewards.
Moreover, in the early years of the 21st century we began to witness a rebalancing of the world’s economic, political and cultural order. Today, the planetary center of gravity is shifting from West to East, and many postulate that the coming hundred years will be ‘Asia’s Century.’ Home to sixty percent of the world’s population, Asia is rising. Giants China, India and ASEAN are expected to drive global economic growth in the coming decades. Consequently, Asia will be the epicenter of the global climate change and environmental mega-challenges, as societies continue to urbanize rapidly and countries strive to meet the seventeen universal Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
From Bangkok to Berlin and Bogota, the advent of the so-called ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ has produced automation anxiety as workers everywhere wonder if A.I., robots and algorithms will conspire to replace their jobs. It’s not science fiction. The coming disruption will blindside white-collar professionals and blue-collar workers alike. A recent World Economic Forum report estimates that technology will eliminate half of all jobs by 2025. But these drastic losses will likely be offset by the creation of even more new jobs requiring skills and advanced training, the report also notes. Therefore, as we race “to build a better mouse trap,” what if universities harnessed their best and brightest brains to create jaw-dropping technologies like super-smart A.I.s for society? Already advanced automated tools are being developed
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