Opportunities for Romania
Just a couple of months ago, after I met an old friend, I came across a paper called ”100 opportunities for Finland and the World”[1]; since then, after reading the pragmatic document, I began promoting it, hoping it would go viral and underscore that Romania has a similar need to the one the Finnish document addresses..
The following idea, to be succeeded by many others in time, represents just a schematic of what should become a transdiciplinary project, embarked on by a government thirsty for innovation and in pursuit of a prosperous and sustainable future for its citizens.
Evaluation Technology
I would propose establishing a future-oriented National Commission (following the Finnish example) for the anticipation/ evaluation of technological discoveries and their role in all of the social and societal space. And the basis for such an initiative is not flimsy; on the contrary, Mircea Malița’s experience in studying the future by using evaluation technology (ET) means to explore the connection between science, technology and society represents a first “open gate”. ET was pioneered in 1970 by the US Congress’ Technology Evaluation Office. It has been defined in various ways – “Evaluation technology (ET) is a scientific, interactive and communication process, that aims to contribute to the forming of the political and public opinion regarding social aspects of science and technology”.
This is a concept that brings together researchers from various fields, such as business, economics, sociology or biology, just to name a few. The common goal is to explore the way in which present technological breakthroughs affect the world we live in. More specifically, ET could, for example, analyse policies regarding: the energy situation, the new working conditions in light of ITC development, globalization and the new skills in the labour market, NGOs and the environment, confidentiality and privacy problems in e-government, nanotechnology’s potential in healthcare etc.
Evaluation technology has three dimensions:
- the cognitive dimension – creating an overview regarding the knowledge relevant for elaborating policies;
- the normative dimension – establishing the dialogue to support the drafting of the approval;
- the pragmatic dimensions – which will establish the processes that contribute to the decisions that have to be taken.
ET has three parts: the technology issue, social issues and issues concerning policies. Ultimately, ET may be seen as a contributor to the democratic control of scientific and technological innovations.
Preparing for the future
In the last two prospective debates I recognized that this endeavour would hold much interest for the Romanian state. In competition analysis, in defining the evaluation criteria according to the World Economic Forum methodology, I showed that there is a phasing of a state’s evolution, as well as its society’s. Romania falls in the second category – the second level of indicators, called “efficiency promoters”. In essence, these are the markets – whether we refer to the functioning of trade, the labour market or the financial one, and taking into consideration education, as well as technological preparation – which measures how well the economy is prepared for a more advanced transition towards a knowledge-based economy.
Therefore, the prospective analysis of opportunities for Romania will target:
- Enabling the global value producing networks (GVPNs): for example the League of Romanian Students Abroad, The Caesar Foundation, the scientific diaspora and Brain Romania (developed by the Romanian Government);
- Creating poles and cities of innovation (in approximately 10-15 years);
- The development of 3D printing of merchandise;
- 3D printing of buildings;
- 3D and 4D printing of new materials;
- Moving from mass production to affordable customized production through robotics;
- Individualizing the education and career orientation system (in the last decade, the private and afterschool systems have undergone an evolution); virtual schools in cloud technology and amplifying organizations that form on the internet;
- Auto-care and medical assistance (in approximately 10-15 years)
- Biochips and biosensors capable of diagnosing, cheaply and rapidly, physiological diseases and general characteristics of organisms (the European genetic market has grown in the last years by 20%). The global genetic testing market was worth 3.8 billion dollars in 2015 and it is estimated to reach 4.23 billion dollars in 2016. In rising, at a moderate generalized annual growth rate raised by 9.7%, it is expected to reach 6.7 billion by 2021[2];
- Small, portable scanners;
- Continuous monitoring of personal health;
- Large scale use of human organ regeneration (through stem technology) and cell cultivation;
- Creating virtual communities and virtualizing en-detail services and commerce (through blockchain technology)
- Work from distance;
- Gamification;
- Electronic currency (cryptocurrency) and time banks
- Access to emerging radical technology markets;
- Going back to the old cooperatives, but this time private, and developing local or functional food products
- Functional materials and new technological materials (in domains such as constructions)
- New construction materials that replace reinforced concrete and old construction systems;
- Lasting, individualized and durable technologies
- Lowering the prices of solar energy and efficient solar panels;
- Large scale production of biofuels, using enzyme, bacteria or algae;
- Amplifying and systemizing participation based entertainment, culture and influence (for civil society interactions, activism etc.)
- Virtualization of identities and social structures (such as on-line political parties);
- Amplifying the crowdfunding and micro-finance system;
- Models for the operation of self-organized communities, the destructuring of the state system and emancipating local authorities (in an initial phase) (in approximately 10-15 years)
- Automated public transport (in approximately 10-15 years).
We are already on the road from dream to reality and to the pragmatism and real world solutions of the business environment.
(To be continued)
[1] https://www.eduskunta.fi/FI/tietoaeduskunnasta/julkaisut/Documents/tuvj_11+2014.pdf
[2] Global Market of Genetic Testing – Industry analysis and market forecast (2017-2022), published in January 2017 https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/global-genetic-testing-market-industry
