Georg von Richthofen and Ali Aslan Gümüsay
How can digital innovations be used to tackle sustainability challenges in the global south? How can research contribute to developing locally sensitive solutions? In this session, members of the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society share insights from the Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Global Digital Transformation project that spans 10 countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
While sustainability challenges such as climate change, desertification, decent work and inequality are global in nature, their implications are particularly severe in the global south, where governments, international cooperation and development organizations are increasingly looking for ways to leverage digital technologies to address these challenges and advance the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Although researchers in the global north tend to publish rigorous and relevant research, they too often remain on the sidelines when it comes to tackling local challenges on the ground, especially in the global south. Therefore, the session will address questions such as the following: How can research institutes and researchers leverage their expertise and capabilities to make an impact with their work in the global south? How can they develop future-oriented, sustainable and locally sensitive approaches?
The session will provide answers to these questions based on the Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Global Digital Transformation (SET) project that the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) conducts in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The HIIG supports the BMZ's Digital Transformation Centers (DTCs) in 10 partner countries as a scientific partner by carrying out studies, research sprints and exchange formats such as multi-stakeholder dialogues and events. Thematically, the project focuses on the topics of entrepreneurship, the future of work, and issues of AI in connection with sustainability and climate protection.