scope:

ABSTRACT

A clear lesson from the COVID-19 crisis is that it is not guaranteed that the future will become less disruptive-new trends and shocks will continue to affect people's lives, which is why resilience-building is more crucial than ever. The response to this unprecedented crisis demonstrates another clear lesson-the importance of digitalization and digital resilience as the world becomes more dependent on digital systems and technologies to cope, recover, adapt, and transform in this new reality.

A systematic review of national and organizational policies and strategies on digital resilience over the past decade reveals that their narrow focus on developing and protecting digital infrastructures, systems, data, and products from external threats such as cyberattacks and disasters, has been inadequate for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The focus on the physical and technical aspects of digital resilience risks leaving out the human aspects, particularly, in maximizing the opportunities of digital innovations to meet the diverse needs of communities and individuals, while minimizing the barriers and harms caused by these digital technologies on vulnerable and marginalized groups with limited resources and capabilities.

For instance, a research study illustrates that the UK policy focus on provision of access to broadband is crucial but as it has not been sufficiently linked to inclusion and multi-stakeholder participation strategies, individuals have not been able to fully reap the potential of broadband to strengthen their resilience.

This paper calls for a radical shift in mindset for a holistic people-centered approach to digital resilience, otherwise future crises could further intensify poverty, hunger, and inequalities, and could reach levels beyond our capacity to recover. This broadening of perspective requires engagement with the digital ecosystem-i.e., the stakeholders, systems, and enabling environments that together empower people and communities to use digital technology to pursue economic and social opportunities, while taking steps to reduce risks.

Reflecting and leveraging on the debates, discussions, and current climate, a thirteen-point agenda was developed by the eWorldwide Group as a useful framing that focuses on: (1) information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure resilience; (2) cybersecurity, digital privacy, and trust; (3) disaster and crisis management; (4) food security and smart logistics; (5) healthcare and telemedicine; (6) mental wellness and addiction; (7) education and skills development; (8) decent work and teleworking; (9) innovation and entrepreneurship; (10) digital access and inclusion; (11) financial inclusion, fintech, and blockchain; (12) data and statistics; and (13) communication and digital media.

Implementing the agenda that can drive transformational change towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will undoubtedly be a challenge. As next steps, the following actions are recommended: (1) appoint a thought leader/champion with multidisciplinary skills capable of delivering a holistic vision and leading multistakeholder collaborations in digital resilience to facilitate dialogue and partnerships; (2) engage in dialogue and partnerships with multiple stakeholders across traditional silos, strengthen understanding, identify shared values, and co-create solutions in building digital resilience; (3) include the participation of marginalized and vulnerable groups; (4) adopt a resilience lens in policymaking and include the local contexts and perception of risks of marginalized and vulnerable groups in decision-making, policies, and plans; (5) provide incentives and financing for accelerating holistic digital resilience interventions that are multi-sectoral and inclusive; and (6) invest in global data interoperability, compatibility, and streamlining to allow effective and resilient response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises. A holistic overview of the components is given in FIGURE 1.