Tech for Good

Humanity in a data-fueled future

The past year is both extraordinary and challenging in many ways. In a world that has changed dramatically, from finding new ways to live, work, and learn, to pushing the boundaries of technology to find a vaccine, the human race has never been tested the way we did. In our ever evolving data-fueled future, where will we go next? How do we define success beyond the pandemic when we get to the new normal? How do we go Beyond Good and where does humanity fit? Power of data in our zettabyte future

Organizations are expecting a data tsunami, according to the Data Paradox, a recent study from Forrester, commissioned by Dell Technologies. At the recent Dell Technologies World, Michael Dell, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies, predicted that more than US $700 billion in capital expenditures will be spent within the decade on Edge infrastructure. With 75% of data being processed outside of a traditional data center or cloud by 2025, we will need real time analytics and intelligence to be able to extract useful insights from the data. Technology is the powerful connector across every industry, enabling innovation from anywhere and fostering new experiences from literally everywhere. Time is ripe for us to take this one step further and use technology and data for good.

Source: Dell Technologies

Nothing can illustrate the immense power of data in recent history as vividly as COVID-19. Having data points can help build awareness of the challenges we face as a society, bringing us one step close to solving them. Here are some examples:

30%

30% of American K-12 public school students (15 million to 16 million K–12 students) are caught in the digital divide, due to lack of access to connectivity, e-learning devices (such as computers), and digital training and support.

During COVID-19, when many schools have switched to remote learning, such inequalities are exacerbated, especially among the urban poor and those who live in more rural areas.

Closing the digital divide will allow everyone to be part of the innovation economy, and provide access to resources — from education to healthcare — to millions of American households. It will also help propel a more inclusive economy of the future by breaking the cycle of poverty.

81 million

According to the US Department of Agriculture, prepandemic, “37.2 million people, including 11.2 million children, did not have adequate access to nutritious food to live a healthy life.” As a result of the crisis, however, communities across America are going through a drastic increase in hardship. As many as 81 million Americans experienced food insecurity in the week before Christmas in 2020; that amounts to about 1 in 4 people, in one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Unsurprisingly, Black and Latino families are being impacted the most, likely due to economic disparities that these communities have long suffered from.

1 in 4

1 in 4 women are considering leaving their jobs, cutting back hours, or scaling back their career due to the impact of COVID-19. While many of us have been able to work remotely from home, it is a privilege not available to everyone, especially to single parents and people from communities of color. The pandemic has greatly exposed the gender inequality in our society, where women bear an outsized share of caregiving and domestic housework. This worrisome trend can set back the hard-earned progress in women’s economic opportunities, and even widen the gender disparity for women. The World Economic Forum has recently reported that closing the global gender gap has increased by a generation from 99.5 years to 135.6 years, as the impact of the pandemic continues to be felt. This is not a women’s issue — but a society concern.

99.9%

Small businesses comprise 99.9% of all businesses in the U.S., employing nearly 60 million Americans and driving 44% of all economic activity. At the peak, approximately 23% of small and medium businesses were closed due to the economic downturn. Unsurprisingly, small businesses owned by communities of color and women are harder hit than the others. With small businesses being the frontline of our economy, providing extra support for these businesses to thrive and create opportunities for entrepreneurs to grow is crucial as we move forward together to strengthen our communities.

A more inclusive and equitable recovery for all

While the pandemic is unprecedented and organizations have simply scrambled to cope, there are many measures that we can take to make our collective future more equitable, including being more intentional about building back better. We must do more to bridge the digital divide and invest in education, to allow more people to benefit from the growing digital economy. Digital inclusion is economic inclusion. Having access to affordable digital tools and technology is no longer a nice-tohave; it is essential for economic and social mobility. Without them, we risk leaving behind the very same communities that technology has the potential to equalize and empower. Imagine each byte of data not purely as information — but bits and pieces of one’s life story. How can we create a more inclusive future for everyone in our zettabyte world — one where more dreams can be weaved and new stories can be written?

Our future prosperity is dependent on the choices that we make — together — today.

“Our Digital Future is one where human progress is transformed by technology.”

Lau’s Bio

Theodora Lau is the Founder of Unconventional Ventures. She is a public speaker, writer, and advisor, whose work seeks to spark innovation to improve consumer financial well-being. She focuses on developing and growing an ecosystem of financial institutions, corporates, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to better address the unmet needs of consumers, with a focus on women and minority founders. She co-hosts One Vision, a podcast on innovation and fintech. Theodora’s new book,

Beyond Good, co-authored with Bradley Leimer, is a call to arms for business leaders to recognize how they can do well by doing good.