DUBAI: Global geopolitical events show that technological sovereignty is important as it preserves nations, boundaries and citizens’ security, Arvind Krishna, IBM’s president and CEO, told the World Government Summit on Tuesday.
“Finance is important because without liquidity and credit, it is very hard to invest in the infrastructure, in companies, and in all of the things that our citizens want,” Krishna told a packed hall during a session on WGS’s first day in Dubai.
Introducing the session titled “Is Technology the New Sovereign Asset?,” moderator Mike Allen, co-founder and executive editor of media company Axios, said the answer to the question is “yes” and that the session was meant to “unpack why technology now goes way beyond being an economic asset, but is a sovereign asset.
“Technology is a force multiplier. Every nation has woken up to the fact that technology can help amplify the impact of both of those and many other industries, so if you get a common amplifier, that means technology becomes as, or perhaps more important, even than finance going forward. It doesn’t replace it,” said Krishna.
Finance has its own role, but the factor that will lead to the most economic growth, according to the IBM CEO, is that what he thinks most countries desire can be driven by technology more than anything else, given sufficient protection.
“Sovereignty is not exclusive. It’s an add. You can use many things from other places, but you do need to run some that you have your control over fully,” he said.
Addressing the session’s other guest, Borje Ekholm, Ericsson Group’s president and CEO, Allen said: “Mr. Ekholm, you have a provocative perspective on this (sovereignty) … you say that it is a misguided term.”
Ekholm agreed and said: “I think sovereignty leads the mind the wrong way because it says that we can be a bit independent … I actually think in technology we cannot.”
Most countries are interdependent, according to the CEO, who added: “Yes, I agree you need to make sure it operates all the time, that its resilient, that it actually has the performance that you can trust it, but you have interdependence on everyone else.”
Ekholm said he would rather use “interdependence as the normal and think about what I need to control in order to make it work.”
Citing a practical example, Ekholm said the US uses Ericsson technology in telecommunications, but the digital stack lacks a domestic vendor.
“So, when you think about that, you actually have a dependence on countries … Europe depends on American technology to run almost all data centers, all operating systems, basically the full digital stack. Same thing here, we all depend on each other, so what you need to think about is, who do I trust to be my vendor, who do I trust to be my partner, how do I build it up and ensure operational integrity? So, sovereignty in a sense we can be independent … I don’t think so,” he said.
Technology, according to Ekholm, will be the key driver of national prosperity in the future.
