The impact, possibilities, and risks of information and communication technologies in current global governance.

In their article ‘Public Administration in the Age of Globalization and Emerging Technologies: From Theories to Practice’, authors Farah and Prityi consider the impact, possibilities and risks of information and communication technologies in current global governance, focusing in blockchain technologies. Indeed, it is hard to overstate the tremendous impact of ICTs in global society. As the authors call it, we are living the fourth industrial revolution. If we consider as a revolution a drastic change of societal processes over a relatively short period of time, especially compared to previous time-periods, there is little doubt in that we are living one. I myself, under three decades of age, can acknowledge how different life is today relative to my childhood. Certain scholars are more cautious, for they consider that digital changes do not have the same relative impact than, for instance, those of the XIX century industrial revolution. Steamboats and trains reduced hundreds of time the amount of time spent to deliver information from point A to point B. Telegraphic cable supposed an even greater reduction of time. In just a few decades, a single message sent from Europe to North America went from needing several months to reach its destination, to doing so in just a few minutes. In contrast, ICTs have not even got close to reaching the same magnitude of relative time reduction. This point of view, however, is so focused on time, that fails to consider the amount of information transmitted. Entire books can be sent and downloaded in mere seconds. The daily quantity of information transmitted and stored worldwide through digital means is hard to even conceive. This immense information flow also allows for an exponential growth in technological innovation speed. These changes cannot be matched by institutions, states and governments, which are constantly outpaced. Governmental and institutional changes, both national and international, are slow and usually limited in scope. I believe this has contributed to the general feeling of disassociation between the public and institutions. Nonetheless, this also poses a good opportunity to, as Farah and Prityi consider, observe the pros and cons in practice of certain ICTs in order to properly establish a regulation. Moreover, the integration of ICT between public administration could serve to speed up accommodation

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