tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/digital-revolution-79925/articlesDigital revolution – The Conversation2020-07-19T19:52:28Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1421592020-07-19T19:52:28Z2020-07-19T19:52:28ZWhy COVID-19 might not change our cities as much as we expect<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347495/original/file-20200715-35-kfybpx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-australia-march-14-2020-nearly-1696788865">Brian S/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What will be the normal way of urban living when the COVID-19 crisis passes? What aspects will remain with us and what will disappear? </p>
<p>The coronavirus pandemic has thrust us into a moment of rapid change. Like all change, it is difficult to predict. But lessons from history provide us with two important insights.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cities-will-endure-but-urban-design-must-adapt-to-coronavirus-risks-and-fears-135949">Cities will endure, but urban design must adapt to coronavirus risks and fears</a>
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<p>First, temporary change sometimes has remarkably little lasting effect.</p>
<p>Second, what looks like a lasting effect is often the acceleration of existing trends, rather than new, crisis-caused trends. </p>
<p>COVID-19 impacts provide an opportunity for our cities to shift to new ways of urban living. But only if we couple this opportunity with technology and deliberate collective action will sustained and equitable change happen. </p>
<h2>What does history tell us?</h2>
<p>Right now, COVID-19 impacts are front of mind. In thinking ahead, we might therefore overemphasise what a crisis will do to how we live in cities. To put it simply, history shows us that the ways we organise our cities are often resistant to abrupt change – even in response to catastrophic events. </p>
<p>In Japan, changes to population distribution as a result of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 had <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/000282802762024502">disappeared by the early 1960s</a>. </p>
<p>Almost 40% of Europe’s population died during the Black Death (1347-1352). Much of Europe’s urban hierarchy nevertheless <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3331972">returned to its pre-plague distribution</a> over time. </p>
<p>Even the collapse of the urbanised Roman civilisation had little lasting effect on the urban hierarchy in France. It did lead, though, to a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ecoj.12424">resetting of the urban network in England</a>. </p>
<p>The reason for this urban inertia is that momentary change often does little to change the fundamentals of our cities. It doesn’t greatly change locational advantages, built environment legacy, property rights and land ownership. </p>
<p>London, for instance, has experienced slum clearance, Spanish flu, wartime bombing and the introduction of greenbelts and planning over the past 100 years. However, the location of the city’s rich and poor continues to be <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26145597?seq=1">shaped by infrastructure investments in the Victorian era</a>. And the Roman-period road layout has strongly influenced the street layout of central London today. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347524/original/file-20200715-27-1qkk7y3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347524/original/file-20200715-27-1qkk7y3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347524/original/file-20200715-27-1qkk7y3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347524/original/file-20200715-27-1qkk7y3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347524/original/file-20200715-27-1qkk7y3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347524/original/file-20200715-27-1qkk7y3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347524/original/file-20200715-27-1qkk7y3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347524/original/file-20200715-27-1qkk7y3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">After all the upheavals London has endured through two millennia, the influence of the Roman road network can still be seen in the city today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Londinium_400_AD-en.svg">Fremantleboy, Drallim/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>At the same time, cities do of course change. In some cases dramatic <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20141707">events</a> – like <a href="https://eh.net/eha/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Siodla.pdf">fires</a> or earthquakes – are the enablers of change that is already underfoot. That is, business and policy coupling opportunity with technology and determination. </p>
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<h2>How are business practices responding to COVID-19</h2>
<p>Businesses will not – and should not – be slow to couple opportunity, technology and determination to achieve particular outcomes. </p>
<p>For instance, working from home has overnight (temporarily) become endemic. Higher education institutions (temporarily setting aside the challenges for teaching) switched remarkably quickly to almost exclusively online platforms. </p>
<p>COVID-safe shopping has popularised some automation. Demand for “contactless” service delivery has advanced some smart and <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2016/07/07/robots-are-about-start-delivering-take-away-food">robot technology</a> into common use. </p>
<p>Some have argued that well before COVID-19 the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and online platforms had catapulted us into the <a href="https://www.creativeinnovationglobal.com.au/2018/04/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-how-to-respond/">Fourth Industrial Revolution</a>. It’s a world of work and cities that are <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Tech+Trends+in+Practice%3A+The+25+Technologies+that+are+Driving+the+4th+Industrial+Revolution-p-9781119646204">digitally smart, dispersed and connected</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/were-at-a-fork-in-the-road-do-we-choose-neighbourhoods-to-live-work-and-play-in-138949">We're at a fork in the road: do we choose neighbourhoods to live, work and play in?</a>
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<p>Working from home, online teaching and automation couple opportunity (as a result of COVID-19) and technology (digital communication) with longer-term trends. </p>
<p>Between 2001 and today, the office space per worker in many knowledge-intensive jobs shrank from 25 square metres to just 8sqm in <a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/mirvac-discovers-agile-offices-can-shrink-tech-workspaces-by-two-thirds-537585">new developments</a>. Flexible working arrangements and <a href="https://theconversation.com/casual-academics-arent-going-anywhere-so-what-can-universities-do-to-ensure-learning-isnt-affected-113567">casualisation</a> across a range of sectors enable businesses to manage wage bills when wage rates cannot be reduced. </p>
<p>Automation also reduces business wage bills and has long been touted as a way to increase productivity. According to a 2019 <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/%7E/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Future%20of%20Organizations/Australias%20automation%20opportunity%20Reigniting%20productivity%20and%20inclusive%20income%20growth/Australia-automation-opportunity-vF.ashx">McKinsey</a> report, automation may affect 25-46% of current jobs. </p>
<p>The “death of the office” has long been predicted. Rumours of its death are likely exaggerated this time too. </p>
<p>Face-to-face interaction between workers often increases productivity in service and knowledge-based industries. Research shows face-to-face contact <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10919-019-00314-1">enhances co-operative and pro-social behaviour</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-death-of-the-open-plan-office-not-quite-but-a-revolution-is-in-the-air-140724">The death of the open-plan office? Not quite, but a revolution is in the air</a>
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<p>Similarly, <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.47.4.983">research</a> suggests concentrating workers and their skills in one location (agglomeration economies) can increase much-needed labour productivity. This is required to offset the shifting <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2017/dec/5.html">labour-force balance in an ageing society</a>. </p>
<h2>What’s the role of public policy?</h2>
<p>Our cities today work better for some than for others. Sustained and equitable change requires public sector action and will. </p>
<p>Temporary measures during the pandemic have brought home just <a href="https://theconversation.com/teleworkability-in-australia-41-of-full-time-and-35-of-part-time-jobs-can-be-done-from-home-140723">how viable telecommuting is for some jobs</a> and how achievable online teaching modes can be. </p>
<p>This will leave winners and losers. Unlike change itself, the winners and losers are often far more predictable. <a href="https://theconversation.com/low-paid-young-women-the-grim-truth-about-who-this-recession-is-hitting-hardest-141892">Women</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-coronavirus-widens-the-renter-owner-divide-housing-policies-will-have-to-change-135808">renters</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-puts-casual-workers-at-risk-of-homelessness-unless-they-get-more-support-133782">lower-income</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-temporary-migrants-need-jobkeeper-135688">migrant-dominated jobs</a> are more vulnerable. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/low-paid-young-women-the-grim-truth-about-who-this-recession-is-hitting-hardest-141892">Low-paid, young women: the grim truth about who this recession is hitting hardest</a>
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<p>What is imperative, therefore, is that governments similarly couple technology and opportunity with a vision for cities that are environmentally sustainable and socially just. This sort of urban future requires economic innovation. Change is confronting us with an opportunity and necessity to redress entrenched privilege. </p>
<p>History tells us critical events such as COVID-19 often do little to change the fundamentals of our cities. An important step in envisioning different urban futures is to recognise it is people, businesses, institutions and political will that collectively make change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142159/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian A. Nygaard works at the Centre for Urban Transitions at Swinburne University of Technology. He receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and Community Housing Industry Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iris Levin works at the Centre for Urban Transitions at Swinburne University of Technology. She receives funding from the Australia Urban and Housing Reseach Institute. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharon Parkinson works at the Centre for Urban Transitions at the Swinburne University of Technology. She receives funding from the Australian Housing and Research Institute. </span></em></p>We might have had a glimpse of new ways of urban living, but history offers a note of caution. Lasting change depends on us applying technology and taking deliberate action to seize this opportunity.Christian A. Nygaard, Associate Professor in Social Economics, Swinburne University of TechnologyIris Levin, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologySharon Parkinson, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1283602020-01-02T16:25:19Z2020-01-02T16:25:19ZUpskill the upskillers: The must-have New Year’s resolution for businesses<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306109/original/file-20191210-95130-28eaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7360%2C4836&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's critical that learning and development teams are upskilled and reskilled themselves to help organizations successfully engage in a digital transformation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today, <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ki3yx">the survival of many organizations</a> depends on their plans to leverage cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technologies <a href="https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/economie/grande-entrevue/201908/07/01-5236630-lia-au-secours-de-la-banque-de-demain.php">to transform their workplaces into augmented environments</a>. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://newsroom.ibm.com/2019-09-06-IBM-Study-The-Skills-Gap-is-Not-a-Myth-But-Can-Be-Addressed-with-Real-Solutions">IBM study</a> found that, as a result of AI and intelligent automation, 120 million workers will need to develop <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/allisondulinsalisbury/2019/10/28/as-pressure-to-upskill-grows-5-models-emerge/#98ed682680cd">new skills or even be transitioned out of companies to different jobs</a> in the next three years. Half of the surveyed organizations had done little to rethink their training strategies to respond to this urgency.</p>
<p>For that digital transformation to happen, organizations must avoid <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-answer-to-your-companys-hiring-problem-might-be-right-under-your-nose-11555689542">the costly “buy, not build” talent strategy</a> that involves opting for expensive new hires instead of retraining their current employees.</p>
<p>Instead, as 2020 kicks off, they need to launch a <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/skills-jobs-investing-in-people-inclusive-growth/">reskilling revolution</a> that places their employees at the centre of the digital transformation, focuses on them as human beings with unique capabilities and helps them to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfpmggpsdtk">collaborate with new technologies</a>.</p>
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<p>But do those helping to lead the “reskilling revolution” meet the requirements of the <a href="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/reframing-the-future-of-work/">future of work</a>? </p>
<p>There is a desperate <a href="https://www.ibm.com/topics/training-development">need for innovative, even disruptive approaches for training</a> that involve many types of learning. Training can be responsive, adaptive, personalized, mobile, self-service or on-demand, self-directed, experiential, collaborative, social. Some training must be available at the moment employees need it, also called just-in-time training, or <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/02/making-learning-a-part-of-everyday-work">during the flow of work</a>.</p>
<p>Some of these training methods use game-based learning, or <a href="https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/07/what-is-gamification.html">gamification</a>, and emergent technologies such as simulation, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2019.03.014">augmented reality</a>, <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/10/research-how-virtual-reality-can-help-train-surgeons">virtual reality</a>, mixed reality or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-019-03939-0">cross reality</a>, to name just a few.</p>
<h2>Learning and development teams</h2>
<p>Training experts will help future workers adapt to the inevitable digital change. These include learning and development teams, also known as learning engineers, learning experience designers, instructional designers, educational technologists, experts in talent and organizational development, training specialists or performance consultants. Whatever they’re called, they’ll be <a href="https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/publications-and-resources/publications/6106">at the forefront</a> of <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/09/its-time-for-a-c-level-role-dedicated-to-reskilling-workers">training workers</a> to collaborate with the technology to improve productivity and business performance.</p>
<p>Yet these teams themselves are experiencing the digital transformation and also face an unknown future. They too need training.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306118/original/file-20191210-95135-3utgkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306118/original/file-20191210-95135-3utgkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306118/original/file-20191210-95135-3utgkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306118/original/file-20191210-95135-3utgkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306118/original/file-20191210-95135-3utgkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306118/original/file-20191210-95135-3utgkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306118/original/file-20191210-95135-3utgkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306118/original/file-20191210-95135-3utgkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Learning and development teams need a host of new skills themselves.</span>
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<p>Many predict AI will have a considerable impact on the field of educational technology. <a href="https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2019/4/2019horizonreport.pdf">Its presence in education</a> is expected to grow by 43 per cent by 2022. </p>
<p>The application of AI in education <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-0171-0">includes</a> profiling and prediction, assessment and evaluation, adaptive systems and personalization of learning and intelligent tutoring systems.</p>
<p><a href="https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/">Blockchain</a>, another disruptive technology, has the potential to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s41039-019-0097-0">oversee lifelong learning</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1344/der.2019.35.130-150">global learning itineraries</a>. As learning becomes a continuous and ongoing process, blockchain can document all learning activities and connect learning records across different institutions.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/transparency-and-privacy-empowering-people-through-blockchain-104887">Transparency and privacy: Empowering people through blockchain</a>
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<p>This could lead to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FajOrOQocEM">a drastic change</a> in the role of learning and development teams to include, among other things, applying data science and advanced analytics to organizational learning.</p>
<p>Typically, these teams lead <a href="https://mkto.cisco.com/rs/cisco/images/Bersin-Continuous-Learnng-Cisco-Collaborative-Knowledge.pdf">the development of employee knowledge, skills and competencies and work to improve the overall talent pool in the organization</a>. They also provide employees with personal growth opportunities, which drives engagement and retention. </p>
<p>Today, their responsibilities have evolved and are focused on helping <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/05/03/the-future-of-jobs-and-jobs-training/">existing and future workers find their place in the workplaces of tomorrow</a>. They also address the resistance to change for many, from managers to the rank-and-file.</p>
<h2>The need for lifelong upskilling</h2>
<p>Similar to all groups navigating the digital transformation, learning and development teams need to be able <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/government/system/digital-government/modern-emerging-technologies/responsible-use-ai.html">to collaborate ethically, critically, responsibly and sustainably</a> with machines and emerging technologies.</p>
<p>In addition to technical skills, they require <a href="https://www.oecd-forum.org/users/180741-deb-whitman/posts/54427-the-future-of-work-for-all-generations">uniquely human capabilities</a> that include the ability to negotiate, motivate, persuade, co-ordinate and identify and solve problems. They will be expected to take initiative, to be critical thinkers, great collaborators and communicators, curious, creative and adaptable. They will need a global mindset, diversity acumen and empathy, to name just a few requirements.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-an-ai-era-lessons-from-dinosaurs-help-us-adapt-to-the-future-of-work-113444">In an AI era, lessons from dinosaurs help us adapt to the future of work</a>
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<p>While the traditional role of learning and development teams <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14480220.2018.1576327">requires a well-defined set of knowledge and skills</a>, <a href="https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/publications-and-resources/publications/6106">action is required worldwide</a> to help them evolve and develop competencies that reflect their changing roles.</p>
<p>To help their organizations compete in the digital era, learning and development professionals <a href="https://mkto.cisco.com/rs/cisco/images/Bersin-Continuous-Learnng-Cisco-Collaborative-Knowledge.pdf">will have to completely reinvent themselves</a>. They need to engage in continuous learning, to develop new skills, new capabilities and lead the change.</p>
<p>Upskilling and reskilling should be a priority for these teams so that they can determine <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-03-2019-0069">efficient training strategies</a> for their organizations.</p>
<p>Yet there’s a gap in the literature when it comes to the training, upskilling and lifelong learning once these experts are in the field. </p>
<h2>A wealth of information</h2>
<p>In the age of ubiquitous information, books, podcasts, magazine articles, blogs and webinars are abundant. Some come with free access; others demand registrations. This requires not only handling the overwhelming amount of information, but also filtering it critically. </p>
<p>Conferences also offer excellent exchange spaces for those who can afford them. Many learning and development professionals engage in conversations on social media in an active attempt to stay close to the trends. </p>
<p>But these random “staying up-to-date strategies” aren’t documented or studied well. This needs to change.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306120/original/file-20191210-95135-fj9iu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306120/original/file-20191210-95135-fj9iu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306120/original/file-20191210-95135-fj9iu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306120/original/file-20191210-95135-fj9iu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306120/original/file-20191210-95135-fj9iu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306120/original/file-20191210-95135-fj9iu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306120/original/file-20191210-95135-fj9iu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306120/original/file-20191210-95135-fj9iu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Branson has long championed empowering employees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Oded Balilty)</span></span>
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<p>Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, once said: “<a href="https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/why-is-looking-after-your-employees-so-important">Take care of your employees and they’ll take care of your business</a>.” Today, we add, take care of your learning and development teams and they will <a href="https://learning.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/amp/learning-solutions/images/workplace-learning-report-2019/pdf/workplace-learning-report-2019.pdf">take care of your employees</a>.</p>
<p>For a winning digital transformation, every organization should establish the upskilling and reskilling of their learning and development teams as their critical 2020 New Year’s resolution.</p>
<p>Most New Year’s resolutions do not stick. </p>
<p>This one should, and it must.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-new-years-resolutions-personal-could-actually-make-them-stick-106780">Making New Year's resolutions personal could actually make them stick</a>
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<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128360/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nadia Naffi receives funding from the National Bank to support the work of her Chair in Educational Leadership. This Chair focuses on training future experts in the field of educational technology, learning and development, and lifelong learning in the era of digital transformation and artificial intelligence.
Nadia Naffi is affiliated with the Centre de recherche et d'intervention sur l'éducation et la vie au travail (CRIEVAT), the Observatoire international sur les impacts sociétaux de l'IA et du numérique (OBVIA), the Institut Technologies de l’information et Sociétés (ITIS), the Centre de recherche et d'intervention sur la réussite scolaire (CRIRES), and Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ann-Louise Davidson and Houda Jawhar do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For a winning digital transformation, every organization should establish the upskilling and reskilling of their learning and development teams as their critical 2020 New Year’s resolution.Nadia Naffi, Assistant Professor, Educational Technology, Holds the Chair in Educational Leadership in the Sustainable Transformation of Pedagogical Practices in Digital Contexts, Université LavalAnn-Louise Davidson, Concordia University Research Chair, Maker culture; Associate Professor, Educational Technology, Concordia UniversityHouda Jawhar, Research assistant, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1275012020-01-01T21:03:22Z2020-01-01T21:03:22ZA month at sea with no technology taught me how to steal my life back from my phone<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307034/original/file-20191216-124022-gd83ma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C26%2C5835%2C3858&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The time we invest in our digital lives is time we don’t get back. But, it's not impossible to knock your digital-dependance - and the holidays are the best time to start.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/industrial-port-containers-logistic-concept-313491500?src=775347ef-5dc6-447c-a084-27f7026c33eb-1-39&studio=1">SHUTTERSTOCK</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A survey this year revealed that Australians, on average, spend <a href="https://wearesocial.com/au/blog/2019/02/digital-report-australia">10.2 hours</a> a day with interactive digital technologies. And this figure goes up every year.</p>
<p>This is time we don’t get back. And our analogue lives, which include everything not digital, shrink in direct proportion.</p>
<p>I recently decided to spend four weeks at sea without access to my phone or the internet, and here’s what I learnt about myself, and the digital rat race I was caught in.</p>
<h2>Cold turkey</h2>
<p>Until a year or so ago, I was a 10.2 hours a day person. Over the years, dependence on technology and stress had destroyed any semblance of balance in my life – between work and home, or pleasure and obligation.</p>
<p>I wanted to quit, or cut down, at least. Tech “detox” apps such as the time-limiting <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/17/17870126/ios-12-screen-time-app-limits-downtime-features-how-to-use">Screen Time</a> were useless. Even with these, I was still “on”, and just a click away from unblocking Instagram. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-of-us-are-opting-for-digital-detox-holidays-99740">More of us are opting for 'digital detox' holidays</a>
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<p>So I thought: what about going cold turkey? No screen time at all, 24/7. Was that possible, and what would it feel like? </p>
<p>My commute to work passed the Footscray docks, where container-ships come and go. Passing one day, I wondered if it was possible to go on one of those ships and travel from Melbourne to … somewhere? </p>
<p>Turns out it was. You can book a cabin online and just go. And in what was probably an impulse, I went. </p>
<p>For about four weeks I had no devices, as I sailed solo from <a href="http://www.cma-cgm.com/products-services/line-services/Flyer/AAXANL">West Melbourne to Singapore</a>. </p>
<p>I wanted to experiment, to see what it felt like to take a digital detox, and whether I could change my habits when I returned home. </p>
<h2>What I learnt</h2>
<p>Cold turkey withdrawal is difficult. Even in prison, <a href="https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi560">many inmates have access of some kind of device</a>.</p>
<p>The time on that ship taught me there is a whole other side to life, the non-digital side, that gets pushed aside by the ubiquitous screen. </p>
<p>Real life contains people, conversations, flesh and textures that are not glass or plastic. </p>
<p>It also contains whole worlds that exist inside your head, and these can be summoned when we have the time, and devote a bit of effort to it. </p>
<p>These are worlds of memory and imagination. Worlds of reflection and thought. Worlds you see differently to the pallid glare of a screen.</p>
<p>I took four books with me and read them in a way I hadn’t before: slower, deeper and with more contemplation. The words were finite (and therefore precious). </p>
<p>I’d never spent time like this in my whole life, and was inspired to write about it in <a href="https://grattanstreetpress.com/new-releases/">detail</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/waiting-rediscovering-boredom-in-the-age-of-the-smartphone-83207">Waiting: rediscovering boredom in the age of the smartphone</a>
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<p>Of course, we all have our own commitments and can’t always do something like this. </p>
<p>But away from the screen, I learned a lot about our digital world and about myself, and have tried to adapt these lessons to “normal” life. </p>
<p>Since I’ve been back, it feels like some sense of balance has been restored. Part of this came from seeing the smartphone as a slightly alien thing (which it is). </p>
<p>And instead of being something that always prompts me, I flipped the power dynamic around, to make it something I choose to use - and choose when to use. Meaning sometimes it’s OK to leave it at home, or switch it off.</p>
<p>If you can persist with these little changes, you might find even when you have your phone in your pocket, you can go hours without thinking about it. Hours spent doing precious, finite, analogue things. </p>
<h2>How to get started</h2>
<p>You could begin by deleting most of your apps. </p>
<p>You’ll be surprised by how many you won’t miss. Then, slowly flip the power dynamic between you and your device around. Put it in a drawer once a week - for a morning, then for a day - increasing this over time. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/do-you-zombie-check-your-phone-how-new-tools-can-help-you-control-technology-over-use-103042">Do you 'zombie check' your phone? How new tools can help you control technology over-use</a>
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<p>If this sounds a bit like commercial digital detox self-care, then so be it. But this is minus the self-care gurus and websites. Forget those. </p>
<p>No one (and no app) is really going to help you take back your agency. You need to do it yourself, or organise it with friends. Perhaps try seeing who can go the furthest. </p>
<p>After a few weeks, you might reflect on how it feels: what’s the texture of the analogue world you got back? Because, more likely than not, you will get it back.</p>
<p>For some, it might be a quieter and more subjective pre-digital world they half remember. </p>
<p>For others, it might be something quite new, which maybe feels a bit like freedom.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127501/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Hassan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the head of a media and communications program, my life’s digital-analogue balance was off. Four weeks at sea with no devices refocussed my views – even on things that had been there all along.Robert Hassan, Professor, School of Culture and Communication, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.