Between 20-21 September I participated in the OSCE Academy's Alumni Conference on “Economic Development of Central Asia” with three themes: Anti-Corruption, Green Economy and Digital Economy. Presenting in the digital economy cluster, I focused on digital transformation in rural Central Asia.
Some of the key points that I make:
Digital tranformation of rural areas and digital newcomers must received urgent scholarly attention. This would require a shift in research focus, moving beyond big (capital) cities.
Defining the urban/rural divide is a major challenge. US and EU definitional approaches dot not necesserely fit Central Asian realities where food can be grown within cities and rural areas can be very dencely populated. South-to-south scholarly collaboration would be of help here.
Digitalization is important and beneficial, but we must also dwell on the potential side-effects: platform capitalims, surveillance, disinformation, gender biases, visibility weaponization and cybercrime, among other issues.
It was a great pleasure to connect with fellow aluni and spend meaningful time together. I am grateful for a platform that allowed us to connect and exchange. The best conversations, of course, took place at coffee breaks and late-night hang out sessions back at the hotel.
Together we can do many wonderful things. We must collaborate and make new cutting-edge projects happen.
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