GC Human Rights Preparedness

As this Curated series draws to a close, we reflect on what it emphasises as regards human rights preparedness for digitalisation.

In framing education as a ‘right’, we often displace ways of learning that are inherent and indigenous to our everyday lives. Through counterculture pedagogy that thinks of kindness and imagination as forms of intelligence, education can be a collective endeavour where each of us are interconnected and knowledgeable in abundant ways.

The extraordinary growth of cyberspace has created new possibilities and threats in warfare. It has become crucial to identify a common understanding of cyber warfare if we are to effectively protect civilians from the direct and intentional effects of cyber operations.

COVID-19 arrayed the prospects and challenges that come with digital technologies. Going forward the development of healthcare standards with such technologies calls for a mindful approach that recognises the digital divide between countries.

Advances in Natural Language Processing and machine learning have made it possible to design predictive models that can be used to assist judicial proceedings. Such technologies transform the legal profession; guaranteeing that this does not disrupt the rule of law, access to justice, fair trial and contestability is a substantial challenge.

Experts have been ringing the alarm bells about children’s privacy online for some time, but the pandemic exacerbated the need to focus on children as right bearers in the digital age. So, what steps need to be taken in order to ensure that children are treated as such and we can build a society resilient to the digital crises of the future?

As computers surpass human intelligence and take on greater responsibilities, should they be given rights also?