Draft of the Manifesto “Technology for Peace in the Age of Global Enlightenment”

Oct 30, 2022Global Alliance for Digital Governance

  1. Introduction

Technology has changed everything.

We are all technologists, as we use devices that help us receive and process information throughout our daily lives. Every interaction with the outside world, related to health, well-being, learning, finance, economics, relationships, involves technology in some way.

While technology has improved life and made many things more convenience and effective, it has had negative consequences that must the addressed and remedied. In politics especially, there are new threats and real dangers to world peace driven by technological tools and strategies: religious extremism, racism and ethnic divisions, authoritarianism and totalitarianism, extreme nationalism. The most powerful countries suffer from these problems and grapple with solutions.

 

  1. The Global Enlightenment Age

There are existing structures and networks that are serving to guide us to a better place. The United Nations Academic Impact and Boston Global Forum founded the United Nations Centennial Initiative and published the book “Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment” in May 2021. Numerous forums, non-profit groups, conferences and high-level discussions have begun to counter the rise of technological malfeasance. The ‘Remaking the World” book outlines the potential for an Age of Global Enlightenment, potentially a much more peaceful, secure, and lawful age of humankind.

 

  1. Models and concepts of “Tech for peace and security in the Global Enlightenment Age”

These high-level discussions among the world’s leading thinkers have developed concepts that can be used to deploy technology in the service of world peace and security, including cybersecurity:

  • Technology helps people to access truth, justice, rationality, norms, standards, and
  • Technology must support the reduction of threats and dangers to world peace;
  • Technology must assist in building a just world, where truth and accurate perception is a fundamentally respected value;
  • Political leaders who manipulate information and technology to spread lies, undermine respect for the Rule of Law and Freedom of the Press should be identified and discouraged from participating in civic life;
  • Laws and regulations for digital technologies must be developed and implemented in an unbiased fashion to minimize the negative impacts of technology;
  • Respect for privacy in the public and private spheres should be paramount in developing policies;
  • Technology must be harnessed to assist in building an Innovative, Smart Economy, enabling opportunities for every person to become an innovator;

Technology must be directed to enable individuals to become more knowledgeable and active participants in local, national and international civic and political life;

Model for Discussion:

Two groundbreaking works outline the promise of AI in the future as a core strategy and tool for ensuring peace and security:

 

  1. Potential Solutions for implementation

AIWS proposes the following steps to help resolve emerging issues

  • Building the capacity of Pillar Countries as a paragon and practical model: Initially the Four Pillars are: United States, European Union countries, Japan, India
  • South Korea, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Australia, Canada, Singapore are the next tier of Pillar Countries;
  • Encourage and assist other nations, such as South Africa, Chile and others, to join Pillars community;
  • Strengthen and propagate the Global Alliance for Digital Governance (GADG) to coordinate in this mission. GADG can supervise the process, making sure data is not biased, and conducting campaigns to fight disinformation and misinformation;
  • Building the capacity of AIWS.net, a global community of distinguished people, organizations and institutions to implement, help bring into practice the Manifesto under the guidance of the GADG.
  • Encourage and respect all contributions from any people to apply and build the Global Enlightenment Age through AIWS.net. All meaningful contributions will be recognized and introduced on AIWS.net.
  • Establishing a Group of Global Enlightenment Leaders to lead this mission.
  • Help to build AIWS City, a digital city, to recognize, honor, hold and share information about achievements.
  • AIWS City is a place to organize events and conferences to apply the Manifesto and build the Global Enlightenment Age;
  • Building tech solutions in order to contribute, assist and help in bringing education to all people, especially in developing countries. This is a fundamental solution to reduce extreme nationalism and religion;
  • We will assist in building a special education program (Innovation Education Program in the Global Enlightenment Age) to educate people in the world to have awareness and perceptions about the Global Enlightenment Age and their opportunities, obligations and responsibilities;
  • We call for public-private cooperation to find tech solutions to manage threats, dangers to world peace from extreme nationalism from major countries and religious extremism;
  • Every nation must help build the Innovation Community Economy: Every person can be an innovator;
  • We call on the United Nations and all countries to support and implement this Program.