The REED project was developed after extensive dialogue between academic, industry and policy experts addressing a pressing societal challenge: the dark side of the digital economy. The digital revolution is changing the way we live and interact, but it is neither sustainable nor equitable. Issues such as data security, privacy, monopolies, the digital divide, negative externalities affecting climate change, exploitation of rare earths and more are mere examples of the impact of rapid digitalization for societies and the environment.
Experts involved in the REED project have diagnosed that part of the problem lies with the fact that business and technology-oriented academic programmes, do not explicitly address such issues in relevant courses. Higher education graduates are exposed to the technical and business implications of emerging technologies and digitalization with the focus being primarily on outcomes such as firm performance, or technological efficiency, design and so on.
We argue that Europe’s future leaders in business and technology should be exposed to a debate aimed at expanding their mindset to include a critical view on the societal and environmental impact of emerging digital technologies, preparing them to better address the challenges of the digital economy currently expanding faster than the real economy and the ripples that are caused globally.