SingularityU: can we be ruled by data?

Michell Zappa is the interviewee on the eighth programme of Inspiring the Future - SingularityU Portugal, a journey through the changes we´ll be seeing in the near future

“The location of your telephone will be monitored and registered today”, “Your e-mail account will be monitored”, “Everything you search for online will be recorded and stored” are fragments of life that might seem of minor importance, however, putting all the pieces together forms a detailed picture of everyone´s habits and private life.

SingularityU: can we be ruled by data? Michell Zappa has no doubt that we already are, largely, particularly on the social networks, where there is an aggressive decision-making culture around data, without us being able to see the consequences of these policies.
Fascinated by emerging technologies, this technological strategy researcher and consultant´s presentations take us on a journey through the changes we´ll be seeing in the near future and for which we need to be prepared. In 2011, he founded Envisioning, a smart platform focused on the identification of global trends, future scenarios and technological disruption for governments and companies.

Moreover, Zappa studies the impact of technology in the future in the areas of education, health, money and governance, in addition to developing tools designed to promote the process of creativity for the acceleration of change, believing in the contribution of technology for a better future. Nevertheless, he says, “when technology becomes popular, it gives rise to unimaginable consequences”, warning of situations that we often don´t even think about when we use technological devices such as mass surveillance, on a daily basis.

The future is happening at an increasingly faster rate and our ability to keep up with it is constantly diminishing. Is avoiding technology the solution? Quite the opposite. We need to accept the fact that we are perpetual “beta testers”, knowing in advance that nothing is perfect.