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Reaction and Global Strategies

The Great Recession caused not just a great loss of wealth for many people around the world, but led to political shifts which have steadily gained power in the decade since the recession. With increasingly right-wing governments in power in numerous influential states, we are seeing fundamental challenges to the networks of global governance and the international strategies which have defined the history of international cooperation in the post-WWII era. These challenges to the global framework of agreements reflects the ways in which national decisions can affect international politics, this time in ways which threaten to disrupt the basis of those politics.

Conservative American politics has always included a strange blend of isolationism and militarism which has generally created a distrust of the use of “soft power” and international agreements. With the election of Donald Trump, whose politics seem built as much on being anti-Obama as on any ideology, these Republican tendencies have been given substantial reign. It should be no surprise, then, that the United States is reneging on the Paris Accords and a host of other international agreements. This variability in executive policy makes it difficult to rely on the United States as a partner in international agreements, weakening the foundations of future accords, to say nothing of the open opposition evinced by Trump to trade agreements, treaties, and other underpinnings of the liberal world order. Without a change in national politics, the United States will cease to be a key actor in international politics.

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Exclusion and the Problem of “Special Needs” Education

Most American children grew up familiar with the idea of a “special needs” class in their school. In such classes, children with disabilities are excluded from education with their peers, their needs managed by specially trained educators. This exclusion functions to keep children with disabilities away from their peers’ education, and it could be argued that the idea of the “special needs” class is not meant to give children with disabilities an education, but to isolate them so as to not distract other children from their education. This is an untenable paradigm if education is going to be used as a vehicle for development. This is perhaps more fundamental to creating inclusive education programs in the United States than promoting inclusive technologies and curricula. The entire paradigm of the school as a factory floor, promoting obedience to authority and a carefully managed system, cannot address the differing and more intensive demands of children with disabilities; achieving inclusive education in the United States must involve a fundamental shift in how education is viewed and designed.

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Grand Challenges

Grand challenges are complex societal problems that have yet to be solved and require science and technological innovations to understand them and find their solution. These challenges are not only ambitious goals but they are physically achievable within a desired timeline. Another term often used in relation is ‘moonshot thinking’ which refers to President Kennedy’s ambitious goal to send a man to moon. Solving a grand challenge requires moonshot thinking and multidisciplinary collaboration. Fundamental research is also critical to defining societal goals and finding their solutions. Branscomb argues that in particular two policies must be implemented in order to solve these grand challenges; promoting ‘Jeffersonian science’ and moving products of science into new industries. It is extremely important that schools encourage students to study science and engineering and that higher education devote more resources to laboratories that can produce valuable innovations. Some examples of the challenges that can be addressed with these changes include developing new energy sources, vaccinations, and curing cancer. Other grand challenges that have already been identified explicitly and are working to be achieved by the global community are the Sustainable Development Goals. An important quality that the SDGs have is their ability to capture the public’s imagination as they are intrinsically motivating. Recently, the global approach to development has changed to include more cross-national collaboration, research and innovation, and inclusivity. Although inclusivity is still an area that needs to be improved particularly in the context of language within the SDGs, more and more development goals and projects address and include people with disabilities. It is critical that persons with disabilities be included in development goals because it is estimated that they make up fifteen percent of the world’s population, eighty percent of which live in developing countries. Not including persons with disabilities when developing solutions to grand challenges in the development field would exclude one billion people from the potential benefits. The Sustainable Development Goal that I find to be the biggest challenge and most intriguing is goal thirteen, Climate Action. It is also important to note that these seventeen goals are all interdependent and in most cases, one cannot be achieved without the achievement of another. For example, goal seven, affordable and clean energy, must be part of the solution in order to address goal thirteen. Another important quality that the SDGs possess that motivates nations to finding solutions is it’s time frame. Fifteen years is a short enough time frame to keep the current global leaders engaged but is also long enough to make achieving these goals feasible.

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Intersectionality of International Development

Intersectionality in international development is a gathering of different identities and actors to work together to tie together core concepts of development. This is essential for meeting the sustainable development goals before the year 2030 because with the inclusion of all of the concerned subjects of development, the interests of the entire population can be met. In the United Nations Major Groups Framework, there are nine categories that are represented in the decision making of the development policies. Having nine groups encompasses a majority of the groups affected, but these categories are also limiting in terms of who is represented.

In international developmental organizations, the task of resolving international issues is a challenging one, and often the biggest difficulty is making sure that the interests of all concerned groups are met. By having nine groups, it limits the amount of actors present at the decision making table and makes it easier to pass unanimous actions. However, if there are people that are still not represented in the projects and who do not see the benefits of development, then the efficiency gained in having less actors leads to a loss of  effectiveness of the programs. The Major Groups Framework tried addressing these issues by including specific groups in the official language and keeping it open to “other stakeholders,” keeping it vague enough to include any multitude of groups. Another way that the UNMGF includes all of the groups is by jointly categorizing groups (i.e. instead of having a separate category for the LGBTQA community, they would be included under the nine groups that compose the UNMGF). The main issue with this is hierarchy, where some groups are given more importance than others, which causes political dissent among the different actors over who should be given priority in developmental issues.

This is still a major barrier to international development and is a main criticism of the way the system works, but it is critical to find a way to maintain intersectionality and efficiency in the global frameworks to find ways to meet the sustainable development goals before the 2030 deadline.

 

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Addressing the Digital Divide(s)

ICTs are incredibly important because they factor into every facet of development. Without ICTs and technology, it is very difficult to make advancements and develop. In 1984 the Independent Commission for World Wide Communications Development published an important report known as the Maitland Commission Report or the Missing Link. The report found that ICTs were incredibly important in all aspects of life and development but there was a huge disparity in which countries had access to them. The report found that developed countries were far more likely to have access to ICTs than developing countries and that this difference contributed to differences in development. This disparity became known as a digital divide, which are still present in 2017.

In 1999 another report came out called Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide. This report also examined ICTs and their connection to development, with focus on the internet. Similarly to The Missing Link, Falling Through the Net found that their was a large disparity between developed and developing countries in internet access. The same countries that did not have very much access to telecommunication in 1984 were the same countries who did not have much internet access in 1999. The lack of ICTs for developing countries becomes a sort of Catch-22 because countries cannot develop without ICTs but developed countries have the most access to ICTs. The access that developed countries have to ICTs allows them to pursue sustainable development and stay competitive, while developing countries are left behind.

The UN acknowledges the important role that ICTs play in development and therefore has held many conferences and forums to try and help close the digital divides. The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was convened in 2003 and 2005 with the purpose of sharing information that would help close the digital divide. The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was created at the first WSIS in order for countries to share best practices and work together to better internet governance. These attempts to bridge the digital divide are important because for all countries to be able to participate in the SDGs, they must all have equal access to ICTs. IN 2017, there is an even greater focus on technology than there was when the Missing Link and Falling Through the Net were published. Almost every development initiative requires access to ICTs in some way. In order for developing countries to successfully develop, they must have access to ICTs and WSIS and the IGF will help with that access.

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The Grand Challenge of Inclusive Education

A very pressing Grand Challenge is inclusive education. Inclusive education requires the collaboration of many different disciplines because there are so many different aspects of making education accessible. Inclusive education is also a new frontier because the systems of education that exist are inaccessible and exclusionary, so drastic changes to the educational system must be made. One innovation that has drastically changed the educational system and made it far more accessible is technology. Technology makes it possible for educators and students to communicate even when they are not in the same place or even time zone. This is incredibly important for students with disabilities who may have mobility issues that prevent them from coming to a traditional classroom. Technology like blackboard collaborate makes it possible for students to attend a class without physically attending. In recent years there has been an increase in educational programs that allow students to participate remotely. One example is the IDPP international masters program which allowed students with disabilities from all over the world to participate and earn their masters without having to come to Washington D.C. Programs like this show the innovative role technology is playing in making education more inclusive.

There are many challenges to inclusive education, however. One is unequal access to technology and unequal technological capabilities. As seen with the Maitland Commission Report and Falling Through the Net, not everyone or every country has the same amount of access to technology. Non-reliable or no internet access can prevent potential students from participating remotely in educational programs. Lack of internet can also lead to a lack of information about these programs and opportunities. Equal access to technology should be made a priority, because without equal access, much of the world’s disabled population could be excluded from education. For places that currently do not have as much access to technology, traditional classroom settings must also be made to be more inclusive. More educational materials should be made available in braille and schools should provide a sign language interpreter to every student who needs one. All children should also learn sign language in school so that they can communicate with their deaf and hard of hearing classmates. Schools should also be physically accessible with ramps and elevators. Inclusive education is a grand challenge and incredibly important because education is the future. If people with disabilities are not getting the education they need, we are missing out on the hundreds of new ideas and innovations they could come up with.

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Net Neutrality and The Value of Fair Internet Governance

The Internet is perhaps the most accessible forum space in the world. The sheer number of actors around the world can make internet governance a herculean task, with a number of pitfalls to be found. The battle over net neutrality in the United States is demonstrating how corrupted actors can profoundly upset the balance of internet governance around the world.

At its most basic, the loss of net neutrality in FCC regulations will lead to uneven traffic of internet data, which will affect both producers and consumers by increasing the price of participation for all parties. The only group to benefit from the loss of net neutrality is the internet service providers themselves, who stand to make even greater profits should the FCC decide to do away with net neutrality. The ways in which the internet communities will suffer shows how fair internet governance is key for its sustainability in the future.

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“Right to the City”: Changing the Meaning of Participation

The New Urban Agenda (NUA) formed a new basis from which urban policy might be developed. Focusing on the accessibility of all components of a city, for all of its citizens, was a key step towards further improving approaches to development and solving urban issues. Where previous urban development approaches focused on a physical lack of urban infrastructure, the NUA centered on the lack of accessibility in many aspects of urban life for disadvantaged citizens. As development actors begin to realize more and more that accessibility is a key factor in creating successful development schemes, more documents like the New Urban Agenda can be expected to place accessibility for minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and children in a place of priority.

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ICTs and Inclusive Sustainable Development and Digital Divide(s)

Technology is a constantly changing field. It prides itself on innovation. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are the technologies in the conveying, manipulation, and storage of data through electronics. This includes radio, televisions, smartphones, computers and other tablet devices, etc. Particularly before the internet was invested, populations relied on radios for their information, and have a long-stemmed history in how political actors and important figures used radio to convey messages to populations. Technology and these platforms of receiving technology can be used for education purposes, to not only increase information and research but to expand the ways in which individuals can receive and give and education. It moved education away from the classroom, which creates further opportunities for youth and adults.

 

However, within developing countries, technology is not nearly as accessible. There is an overall lack of infrastructure for these types of mechanisms within developing areas. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the groundwork for projects like technological infrastructure, as it will increase the ability for rural populations to obtain an education.

 

Sustainable Development Goals can utilize ICTs within their framework. The world has accepted SDGs and has committed to working to achieve them. Therefore it is necessary that all countries explore all options and tools available. ICTs can be utilized to drive progress and help countries achieve benchmarks. The Earth Institute of Columbia University discusses the potential barriers between SDGs and ICTs. It stated that policies and regulations need to play catch-up to the ever-changing innovations of ICTs and continuously re-work mechanisms to achieve their goals.

 

Furthermore, the report also discusses how public policy and regulations are not fully utilizing ICTs and that more infrastructure is needed to decrease the number of people who do not currently have access to the internet. There needs to be a heightened collaboration between the public and private sector, to increase funding opportunities to increase opportunities for populations to utilize ICTs.

 

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is a United Nations-sponsored event that discusses.  information and communication. WSIS+10 was representative of the decades since the first summit in 2005. The summit mainly works on the implementation of technologies in developing countries. Through this summit, steps are being taken to allow populations to utilize ICTs to their fullest extent, and in turn, allow countries to work towards achieving 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

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“Digital Divides” and Service Dispersal: Towards a Broader Understanding

“Digital divides” have been a key part of advancing development in the 21st century. With the great utility of computers and cell phones for business, banking, education, and political participation, bridging these “divides” to ensure access to various digital technologies. Bridging these divides is good for development, but the issues which limit access to electronic technologies around the world affect the distribution of other essential parts of modern life as well. By understanding the key contributors to digital divides, I believe those working on many aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals can understand hurdles which may face development in other fields.

In particular, thinking of the issues with rural accessibility to telecommunications services and similar issues within sanitation campaigns in rural areas run into the same sorts of barriers. The low population distribution, compared to rural areas, means that investments in infrastructure for telecommunications and sanitation are both cost-intensive and lack the quick ability to access a large number of people in urban areas. This means that political willpower is key in development for projects where the payoff may not be as immediate.