Digitalisation is a double-edged sword, presenting tremendous benefits as well as severe risks and complex novel challenges – all of which must be managed sustainably; with Simon Carter.

Better World Leaders, Episode 16

Our conversation in this episode with sustainability expert Simon Carter, the MD of Morphosis and chair of the Sustainable Digitalisation Project (SDP).

Simon originally heralds from New Zealand, and as the son of an oceanographer was introduced early on to the appreciation of complex systems in nature and our interaction with and impact on them. His professional journey took him into a focus on the built environment as an architect, and these interests combined with a specialism in sustainability in both buildings and property markets. More recently he has developed expertise in ‘sustainable digitisation’, an endeavour to address to rampant momentum to deploy digital technology to buildings and cities; setting an agenda to ensure it is done responsibly, ethically and sustainably.

Simon is leading an industry, government and academia collaboration of sustainability, digital technology and social change leaders, the Sustainable Digitalisation Project, to establish this in Australia.

The main pillars of this conversation are the influence and impact on our lives at every level of digital platforms and the shift towards digitising so many of our environments, interactions and endeavours. The critical and often decisive role of trust in enabling the effective deployment and use of these platforms, and how risk issues such as privacy, access to data and 3^rd party use of data are compounding the further along this journey we go. How do leaders engage with this topic? What are the main mechanisms for managing risk in the context of digitisation and how can leaders make decisions and take action to ensure their organisation is engaging with their digitisation processes responsibly, ethically and sustainably. To answer these questions, listen on!

Key out-takes from this episode;

• Humankind is crossing a threshold into a highly digitised future.
• This is a step-change in the evolution of our species that needs to be stewarded very carefully.
• Digitisation offers tremendous benefits, many of which we are aware of but also presents severe risks and significant, complex and novel challenges.
• One of the problems we face is a technology-driven mindset, with an expectation that any problem can be solved by technology – that any problem can be algorithmically solved.
• Accept that trust is the oil that lubricates the digitised world. Consider what you are doing as a leader, and what your organisation is doing to measure and earn trust.
• Organisations, cities and governments that focus on trust will out-compete over time.
• Leaders & organisations must question their relationship to technology and put technology in its place as a tool.
• This practice must occur both top-down and bottom-up, being led and delivered by leaders at all levels of organisations.

Get in touch with Simon via any of these points of contact;

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simoncarterprofile/

Morphosis – http://www.morphosis.com.au/connect

Additional resources mentioned in our conversation.

• The Sustainable Digitalisation Project (SDP) – www.sdp.digital
• Centre for Responsible Technology www.centreforresponsibletechnology.org.au
• Human Rights and Technology, Human Rights Commission https://tech.humanrights.gov.au
• Morphosis publication, Crossing the Threshold – a primer for sustainable digitalisation real estate and cities, click here
• World Economic Forum discussion between Klaus Swabb & Mark Benihoff on Trust in the 4^th Industrial Revolution – click here

As always, great thanks and appreciation to the team who contributed to bringing Better World Leaders to you;

To Brendan Ward for production of all audio recordings and composition and performance of original music throughout each episode.

To Cooper and the team at RadioHub studios for technical support and creative guidance during the episodes that are recorded face-to-face. You can find out about Radio Hub’s services here – https://www.radiohub.com.au/

To NokNok Studios for website design, hosting and advice. Find out about NokNok’s awesome services here – https://www.facebook.com/NOKNOKstudios/

To Cirasa Design for logo and site graphics – Find our about Cirasa’s inspiring work here

You’ll find audio and video recordings for this episode, as well as links to any specific recommendations or related resources mentioned today in the podcast area of 4ileadership.com/insights

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