Educational Program: Why Consumers are Demanding New Technologies Focused on Human Security
A growing universal desire for a safer, healthier planet is rapidly changing the global marketplace. With this in mind, it’s important to understand how changing consumer demands and regulatory pressure are creating new technologies focused on human security.
What does this mean for the future, both in the short and long term?
The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (AFPC-USA) sat down with Walton Stinson to learn more about this complex topic.
Stinson is an entrepreneur based in Denver, Colorado. He is the co-founder and CEO of technology integrator ListenUp and the ProSource Buying Group Chairman. He was inducted into the Consumer Technology Hall of Fame, Class of 2009, for his seminal roles in organizing the consumer electronics industry and pioneering digital audio.
Among other things, Stinson says “the digital era has really been the driver that's changed consumer aspirations as well as the types of products that manufacturers make, which now more and more are software driven rather than hardware driven.” Interestingly, the digital world we’ve come to know is really “just beginning.” The future is “pretty exciting” but not without its challenges given that technology “has dangers that need to be controlled.”
This educational program was held on Monday, February 13 and was moderated by journalist Thanos Dimadis, who is AFPC-USA’s Executive Director.
The AFPC-USA is solely responsible for the content of this educational program. Below, readers will find a summary of some of the most important takeaways from the presentation.
ON HOW TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND APPETITES
Stinson says platforms are now “software defined,” which means “hardware is really not where most of the intellectual property goes anymore.” By his estimation, the digital world really only started to form around 1982 and the people on this planet are just starting their “journey as a digital universe.”
“Consumer demands,” says Stinson, “are really driven by an understanding that we're all interconnected and by the underlying digital technology.”
The future is “exciting” because digital technology has become not just more “powerful” but more “encompassing” and will become more “interconnected.” Stinson mentions “the internet of things,” a concept that IBM once defined as “a giant network of connected things and people – all of which collect and share data about the way they are used and about the environment around them.”
Stinson says technology can definitely provide “benefits” to humanity but acknowledged it “has dangers that need to be controlled” and that companies “need to be aware of them.” “I think there are a lot more ethical considerations that companies and governments need to be aware of as these technologies become more powerful,” he says.
ON WHETHER TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE REGULATED
While Stinson advocates a more laissez faire approach, he acknowledges that has “limits.” Personal security, political security, and community security, he says, “are all tied up with… how far digital technology can go.” But this is a “slippery slope,” he warns, advising that the government should keep a “light hand” and that overregulation could deprive humans of technology benefits. However, underregulation creates “too much exposure,” so there’s a “fine line.”
“As long as technology isn’t coercive, in other words, as long as people aren't forced to use it, or the companies involved don't have a monopoly, I would be in favor of not much [regulation],” he says. It becomes “more important to have proper regulation” when companies have a monopoly and limit the choices consumers can make for themselves.
ON HOW TO DEFINE HUMAN SECURITY
Stinson defines human security as “driving companies to come out with new technologies and new solutions.” It’s also driving the regulatory framework.
Many products are being developed to address personal security, mobility, food security, and health security “because of the interconnectedness of all this technology and the fact that it can be processed in the cloud puts a lot of p power in the hands of individuals to control their lives more effectively, to lead healthier lives and more productive lives.” This paradigm has become increasingly important and is “shifting consumer aspirations.”
Stinson became interested in human security while a fellow of the World Academy of Science (WAAS), which focuses on scientific advancement in developing nations. Given the ethical considerations of technology, which goes hand in hand with human security, he believes trade associations “are a really effective organizational body to deal with those sorts of issues, maybe even more effectively than government can.”
ON HOW COMPANIES CAN CONTRIBUTE TO HUMAN SECURITY
Stinson says this is variable given the limits of smaller companies and the abilities of larger ones. While larger companies “are very concerned about the regulatory framework and trying to align themselves with it,” smaller ones are “very concerned about the educational aspect, the fact that the half-life of a tech education is quite short, and workers need to be retrained quite frequently.”
ON REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO HUMAN SECURITY
Stinson acknowledges the technology sector tends to be dominated by men, which is “unacceptable” from a human security standpoint and “undesirable” for companies. He says companies need to take a proactive role in this “rather than just being passive and trying to create a welcoming environment for minorities and women” because that doesn’t necessarily create an environment where workers can be productive and happy with the work they do. Because there is a “higher turnover” among women in tech, it is all the more imperative that technology companies create a “healthier environment” for them.
ON THE MERITS OF COOPERATION AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Because digital technology can be “intrusive” and “manipulated in ways that aren’t serving society,” Stinson says ethics and business have become more important than ever and therefore “we also need to have a stronger ethical framework for dealing with some of the potential downsides of digital technology.”
Stinson says society should “move away from asking people to give their permission every time they visit a new website, and instead have a global permit permissioning system that people can change and provide exceptions for.”
The bigger the company and the market share it has, the bigger the issue of human security is. The smaller the company and the market share it has, the smaller the issue of human security. Competition is “the driver of technological development” and the bigger a company gets, “the less it's interested in innovation and the more it's interested in protecting its market share.”
If a level playing field is created, says Stinson, “that will maximize not only technological progress, but will maximize the benefits to society as well.”
ON POSSIBLE RESPONSES TO UNETHICAL COMPANIES
The typical response, says Stinson, is to “break up the company” and the issue here is “most of these companies have interlocking divisions that dominate the market.” Unlocking those divisions is the key to more competition. But he’s not necessarily a fan of that approach.
Regulators must determine “in the context of their legal framework what's going to be in the best interest of society” but society is “struggling with that today” because of the speed with which digital technology has really driven the marketplace and the speed with which some of these companies have gone from nothing to a dominant position in the marketplace.”
Stinson doesn’t necessarily support government intervention to create more competition because technology advances so rapidly “that one person's dominant position today can be another person's opportunity tomorrow if that company doesn't really keep up with the changes that take place in the digital world.”
ON THE ROLE OF CONSUMERS
Stinson says consumers “are really the beneficiaries of digital technology.” This is largely because digital technology has opened up “entertainment opportunities, communications opportunities, and learning opportunities” for them.
He says he has personally seen “a dramatic increase in quality and the decrease in price as a result of digital technology” and that while issues certainly exist, “things are moving in the right direction for the consumer when it comes to consumer technology products.”
