Image:
07 Feb 2018
7 Feb 2018 <br />
<br />
Remarks by Her Royal Highness Princess Rym Ali at the Mobile Innovation Summit 2018<br />
Amman, 7 February 2018: <br />
<br />
Thank you all for attending this important Summit, about a subject that touches all of us, whether or not we are business leaders.<br />
<br />
And we can all be grateful in Jordan, to His Majesty King Abdullah, for providing an environment that is ripe for such discussions.<br />
<br />
We are all here, with top experts in the field to discuss and learn more about mobile technology – that very technology that provides coverage to more than 5 billion people around the world – but that also gives us news, games, music and movies at the tip of our fingers – as well as other practical apps we use on a daily basis, no matter how technology challenged we are and no matter what our field is: farmers in developing countries check their mobiles for the prices of crops or for weather forecast; some politicians use their mobile phones to rally the masses or inform the world of their latest political decisions.<br />
<br />
There are many of you here who are probably better placed than me to discuss the positive impact that mobile technology has on businesses nowadays and how it has transformed business strategies around the world.<br />
<br />
As with most tools, though we are also all aware that there are always two sides of the coin: in business there also potential risks, such as leakage of sensitive information and hacking.<br />
<br />
In the media world per se – more my comfort zone – this means that we have access to information and news and cultures around the world, with almost a zero second delay nowadays, i.e. in real time. <br />
<br />
But by that same token, there is an overload of information and also of things that may or may not qualify as information and there is no or very little filter: truths, rumors – or – I can’t believe I am using this word “fake news” as some people like to call it.<br />
<br />
The potential for this technology to be used inappropriately is alarming – especially for those who have mobile age -able kids … Not surprisingly, the French government has recently decided to ban students from using mobile phones in primary, junior and middle schools, sending therefore what it termed a “public health message to families.”<br />
<br />
Social media and mobile technology are fantastic depending on whose hands they are in. And that is why content and ethics should be just as much at the center of our preoccupations as the technology itself.<br />
<br />
This is not a new notion it has always been the case: who owns and decides on the use of nuclear technology, including arms, is a case in point.<br />
<br />
Mobile technology, fully mastered and put to ethical use, can be extremely powerful and a formidable asset to our ever changing world: to me, no matter what the technology is and no matter what technological changes are and no matter how much we are in awe of the sheer science behind it, the most important question remains: what will it be used for?<br />
<br />
As when the first books were printed and the first printing press was invented, content should always be at the center of our preoccupations.<br />
We have seen countless examples of how mobile technology in the right hands and with the right content can serve our humanity for the better.<br />
<br />
We are made to feel that we are all equal thanks to mobile technology – no matter whether you own a Samsung or an I phone or an LG or another device as long as it is deemed “smart.”<br />
But smart can mean a lot of things – and maybe we need to ask ourselves more: how can this help make our world a better place?<br />
And there are thousands of mobile technology programs that do just that: programs that help connect remote communities to have access to healthcare that they wouldn’t have otherwise – in certain areas of Morocco some of these technologies have helped bring down the child mortality rate for example.<br />
<br />
But as amazing as mobile technology is – it has its perverse effects.<br />
We know how groups like Daesh or indeed other extremist groups around the world – use mobile technology to recruit young men and women.<br />
<br />
In fact, the EU is doing research to decide whether it should impose restrictions on the sale of smart phones for their potential dual use as they could be used to abuse human rights in certain countries because of their location-tracking capabilities.<br />
<br />
Despite that, I believe the power of this technology to do good exceeds its power to harm.<br />
An engineer can use his or her knowledge to build cities or to destroy them.<br />
As is the case with so many tools, it is crucial that our future generations be equipped to use them properly and not be manipulated by their access to them.<br />
<br />
If used positively and responsibly, mobile technology can actually lead to greater freedom of speech and expression, by bypassing traditional and more self-censored media.<br />
But the earlier we understand this technology in life, the better it is.<br />
Did you know that around 80% of middle school students believe that sponsored content is actually real news? <br />
Children need to just be aware of what this technology is about and how to master it rather than allow it to master them, so that it is no more a threat but a positive asset.<br />
It is the main reason that the Jordan Media Institute which I founded in 2007, last year started a media literacy program in government schools in Amman.<br />
<br />
We trained children in 8 government schools for a year on how to effectively use their mobile technology – and let me reassure you – they all get mobile phones by the age of 10 and are ALL on Facebook even though it is illegal until the age of 14 … The results of the training were truly enlightening.<br />
The children were very receptive and understood exactly how they could be in charge of the technology at their fingertips rather than be manipulated by it.<br />
For those of you who may not be familiar with our region, Media and Information Literacy is a novel concept for Jordan as is the case for most Arab countries.<br />
So since 2016, the Jordan Media Institute in partnership with UNESCO with funding from the European Union began implementing a project to achieve increased understanding and application of the concepts of MIL in Jordan – so we could set the stage for the integration of such programs within the educational system. <br />
<br />
I hope that as the program expands – hopefully – in coming years, children throughout the Kingdom will gradually be able to enjoy and experience mobile technology for all the amazing things it has to offer, and to see the infinite possibilities that emerge around us, in so many fields.<br />
Maybe research will move in a direction so as to limit some of mobile technology’s damaging effects: what if the ethics of how to use these tools were somehow incorporated in new mobile technologies, so as to limit its potential uses by groups that could do harm? Just a thought …<br />
<br />
As I was preparing my remarks for this conference, it also occurred to me just how much mobile technology has done for some of the most vulnerable people in our societies. And I think we in Jordan are acutely aware of this, in particular as we host so many refugees.<br />
<br />
Just recently, a group of young innovators came up with a way that can help refugee children learn, through apps they can easily access no matter where they are.<br />
<br />
And it has been well documented that mobile technologies have proven to be a lifeline for people in humanitarian emergencies.<br />
Basic connectivity can enable communication in times of crisis, allowing faster delivery of aid or helping locate missing people.<br />
<br />
Here in Jordan at the Zaatari refugee camp, mobile technology has been used too by the UNHCR to scan the barcodes found on refugees’ identity documents and ease the process of delivering food, clothing or cash aid.<br />
<br />
Of course, everyone will view mobile technology through what it offers them as a priority and how it serves them best so these are just a few practical examples of how we have been grateful for that technology.<br />
<br />
I know many of you are impatient to begin your sessions, and I very much look forward to hearing all of you discuss, debate and share the fruits of your research about the latest trends and uses and effects of mobile technology on our world.<br />
<br />
But before I leave you the floor, may I use this opportunity to point out that today we are commemorating the death of our beloved King Hussein.<br />
So I would like to take the liberty of saying that the late King would be very proud of his country’s connectedness today, and to see his legacy being followed: for it is a known fact that he was himself an avid radio user passionate about innovation through technology.<br />
He made sure that the latest communication technologies and the latest healthcare technologies were available in the Kingdom as soon as they came out, when possible.<br />
<br />
With that in mind, may I urge everyone to use this conference to celebrate his legacy and to continue working to make sure this mobile technology at our fingertips is always used with the ultimate goal of improving our humanity.<br />
<br />
Thank you.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />