Tigran Sargsyan: In the new order, a developed society will not be the one that produces more goods, but the one that produces more knowledge
Moscow, 24 May 2021. On 20 May, Tigran Sargsyan, Vice Chairman of the Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Management Board who supervises the Fund for Digital Initiatives, delivered an open lecture on digital sovereignty as part of the Moscow Agency of Innovations’ Moscow IT Human Core joint project with the TUMO Moscow School.
Tigran Sargsyan focused on the ongoing qualitative changes in the basic processes of social organisation that result from the transition to a new economic order and their consequences for existing institutions. He is convinced that, in the new order, a developed society will not be the one that produces more goods, but the one that produces more knowledge. Societies that can create the infrastructure to produce more knowledge are regarded as more developed.
Digitalisation in this context is an integral part of the comprehensive transformation of society. Digital ecosystems, which operate on massive data, are becoming the main form of social organisation within the new order. The use and management of data, already dubbed the new “oil,” defines the more complex notion of digital transformation. It boils down to the formation of said ecosystems, the emergence of new business processes, and the dying out of old ones.
In this context, the effectiveness of states, including their ability to ensure their sovereignty, depends on whether they can facilitate the creation and development of digital ecosystems. However, this also raises the question of controlling the circulation of data within ecosystems, which comes close to the issue of digital sovereignty.
New digital ecosystems have entered into competition with familiar and socially recognised public institutions.
Preserving national sovereignty in the digital age is only possible with the creation of sovereign digital ecosystems, a key characteristic of which is scale.
This suggests that relatively small countries will only be able to preserve their sovereignty, including digital sovereignty, through integration.
“Regional unions are needed to ensure that a critical mass of data remains in your management,” argues Tigran Sarkisian. The European Union’s active digital policy is a case in point.
The Eurasian Economic Union, for its part, has laid the foundations for the digital sovereignty of its member states by adopting a common digital agenda. Another important step towards establishing the Eurasian space as a sovereign digital entity was the creation of the Fund for Digital Initiatives within the EDB to support digital projects and initiatives aimed at creating Eurasian digital ecosystems.
Additional Information:
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial institution promoting integration and development in its member countries – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, and Tajikistan. The EDB's charter capital totals US $7 billion. The Bank was established in January 2006 and is headquartered in Almaty. The EDB’s portfolio mainly consists of projects with an integration effect in the areas of transport infrastructure, digitalisation, green energy, agriculture, industry, and mechanical engineering.
The Eurasian Development Bank’s Fund for Digital Initiatives was established by the Bank’s Council on 30 June 2020. The Fund’s objective is to assist EDB member states in creating digital transformation tools and practices by integrating their information resources and participating in the development and financing of projects, including those implemented under the Eurasian Economic Union’s Digital Agenda 2025.
The EDB Media Centre:
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