How can Asia address the inequalities of growth?
By Microsoft
Dr. Astrid S. Tuminez, Microsoft's regional director for Corporate, External and Legal Affairs for Southeast Asia, hopes to see everyone benefit from the opportunities of tech disruption.
Image: John Christian Fjellestad – CC BY 2.0
When she was five years old, the Catholic nuns in the city invited Tuminez and her sisters to attend their school. That’s when her life changed.
Fast forward to today. Tuminez has degrees from two prestigious American universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. She is fluent in six languages and has worked in exciting positions around the world.
Tuminez is now Microsoft’s regional director for Corporate, External and Legal Affairs for Southeast Asia where she helps governments understand trending issues that shape regulations and policies, including how to drive inclusive growth amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
“I was illiterate on the first day of school. In my school, the smartest child was put in the first seat, first row. The dumbest child was in the last seat, last row, and I was actually in the last seat, last row,” recounts Tuminez. “But after a few months, I’m happy to report that I ended up sitting right in front – and I’m here where I am now all because of my access to education.”
Universally accessible opportunities
Her personal journey is a key source of motivation behind her passion to empower others to fulfill their dreams and potential. This mission has become especially relevant now as digital disruption changes people’s lives.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is an emerging era driven by the confluence of data, cloud computing and analytics.
“People with just a device and internet connectivity now have more information and power in their hands than was imaginable 20 to 30 years ago. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and genomics are transforming every aspect of how people live, communicate, work, and learn,” says Tuminez.
But technology can be a double-edged sword. What happens when its capabilities and benefits are not available to everyone? How do we ensure its opportunities are universally accessible?
Asian economies have enjoyed decades of strong expansion, but Tuminez argues passionately that this growth has been uneven – with inequalities surrounding gender, disabilities, and access to education. Governments, the private sector and non-profit organisations must work together to ensure that these inequalities are addressed, she says.
“To participate and thrive in this new digital world, Asian countries must put in place the right foundations that will lead to an inclusive environment. We need policies to ensure that technology helps solve real problems, and that its benefits are spread more evenly across all levels of society.
“This is also the crux of our own sustainable growth philosophy of not leaving anyone behind. This new industrial revolution should not be just for the affluent and well-educated or those born in wealthy countries,” Tuminez stresses.
“This new industrial revolution should not be just for the affluent and well-educated or those born in wealthy countries.”
Empowering communities everywhere
What does inclusive growth mean for Tuminez? She sees five factors. First, people must be digitally literate so they can understand technology and use it safely without falling prey to cybercrime and other nefarious activities of the internet’s underworld. Secondly, there must be affordable internet access so people can harness technology to their advantage.
Thirdly, next-generation skills in big data, analytics and other emerging technologies must be available to everyone so they can get good jobs. Fourthly, the disabled must be empowered with technology to enable them to live full lives. Lastly, all businesses should have access to the same technology, regardless of their size.
Tuminez says new technologies are already addressing real life problems. She points to one example in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh where an app can tell village farmers via their mobile phones when it is best to sow their crops, based on data analytics looking at weather, soil, and other factors.
Some progress is being made, but there are still major challenges – such as a lack of educational opportunities for people in many Asian rural areas. “You can go to a remote island in the Philippines or Indonesia and you will hear people say, ‘Oh, after third grade, there’s nothing here unless we move to the city.’ Since they are farmers, they can’t move to the city, their education ends at third grade. This will be a growing social problem because people cannot improve themselves without education,” says Tuminez.
Through programs such as the Affordable Access Initiative, Microsoft is working with various governments and partners in the region to provide educational resources, especially in the rural areas. For instance, in Indonesia, it is supporting a digital learning solutions provider called Kelase to bring online content, as well as collaboration and productivity tools, to students and teachers in villages.
Microsoft has also awarded a grant to the WiFi Interactive Network (WIN) in the Philippines to spread the availability of internet access in rural areas by tapping TV Whitespace technology.
“These initiatives are exciting because they will make quality education available to children who live deep in the provinces and rural areas. Education empowers people to have skills, allowing them to be more responsible for their own fate,” says Tuminez.
Looking ahead, Tuminez is optimistic and believes Asia’s booming young population differentiates it from the rest of the world. With a high proportion of millennials and digital natives, she thinks the region can embrace emerging technologies, such as mobile and the cloud, for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
This will empower people to solve many of their own problems through technology, resulting in greater prosperity for society and businesses – and that will ultimately lead to greater stability in the region.
This post was written by senior tech writer Grace Chng and was originally published here.