David Goodhart, Author, Head Hand Heart: The Struggle for Dignity and Status in the 21st Century In conversation with Anthony Gooch, Director of OECD Forum

This session will be an opportunity to reflect on the fact that, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, life had changed significantly in the first two decades of the 21st century as a result of trends such as increasing levels of inequality, disruptions in technology, climate change, globalisation, the financial crisis of 2008 and its recovery. The COVID-19 crisis has further magnified these transformations, and put into sharper focus the need to support the most vulnerable members of our societies to avoid the scarring effects of the previous one. At the same time, societal roles and responsibilities between citizens, institutions and other societal actors have been challenged, offering a renewed role for the State in driving the recovery, with governments around the world taking on very significant measures to help keep people safe and employed. Whilst in the pre-COVID environment, many around the world were urging for a “profound reset”, the current context fundamentally calls for an even deeper reflection on the type of society in which we want to live. This new societal contract will require all stakeholders to join forces to shape our future, and help find solutions to address deep-seated fragilities within our current economies and societies, while seeking to maintain livelihoods and improve people’s lives.

The session will be an opportunity to reflect on the fact that digital tools have played a central role in mitigating some of the impacts of the COVID pandemic. By helping ensure educational continuity through remote learning, digitalisation has seen its potential in education more widely recognised. Remote working, too, has been encouraged to slow the spread of the virus, and continues to play a key role in helping lessen some of the economic impact associated with containment and mitigation measures. Yet, not all of us are equal in the ability to carry out our daily-lives through digital means. The pandemic has laid bare digital divides that risk increasing inequalities and unequal access for disadvantaged groups. It has further amplified a number of pre-existing trends, such as pressures to automatise, growing market and societal power in the hands of a few tech actors, and increasing privacy and cybersecurity risks. The COVID-19 pandemic is shining a light on both the benefits and risks associated with digital technologies. It has accelerated digitally-driven transformations and fastened the migration of many parts of our lives to the digital world. This holds significant implications for our relationship to digital technologies both during the pandemic and for the recovery, as we strive to develop the “digital future we want”.