The Big Digital Divide Decides

Suriname in a World of Data

eyesonsuriname

Our world is transforming at a dizzying pace. Change has always been a given, a constant, when it comes to human societies. But the pace at which these changes occur is increasing with each passing day. 

Unquestionably, the digital revolution acts like a giant booster rocket mounted on a car.

Data, in all its forms, is the new gold and is becoming increasingly decisive when it comes to, among other things, governance and development. 

Data is also increasingly becoming the dividing line between the rich and the poor, and between those who are developed and those who are developing. 

Countries like Suriname, which are constantly struggling to survive, are falling behind.

In this respect, we are rapidly regressing or, at best, standing still. And standing still is relative decline, because the rest of the world is moving forward, and doing so incredibly fast. 

We were recently reminded of this when UNICEF, based on data, warned that more than 40,000 people in the interior of Suriname are suffering from drought and water shortages.

The issue itself is serious enough. But even more so, what does it say about our capabilities when UNICEF had to tell us how bad the situation is? And also how many people within the borders of our country are affected by the drought and what the direct consequences are, economically and for public health?

It was reasonably well known that the interior was dealing with a longer and more intense drought than normal. But few people really had a good idea of the scale of the affected group or of the direct consequences.

Without this data, policymakers and those directly responsible lack important information and insight, and effective and targeted action cannot be taken with emergency measures when it is really necessary. 

At least, not without the help of non-Surinamese entities.

There is nothing wrong with asking for and receiving help in times of crisis. However, not knowing what is happening within your own country’s borders is a disgrace. You can put on a brave face and pat yourself on the back that you are the boss in your country. What value does that have when others outside the borders are factually and numerically quicker to understand what is happening in your country?

Google, Facebook, Whatsapp, Amazon, Instagram, and TikTok have, separately and combined, very large amounts of data about the Surinamese population, data that no agency in the country possesses. 

These multinationals, which do not even need a permit to operate in the Surinamese market because of the workings of the digital highway, can, if they wish, unleash policies and strategies on the local population that local politicians can hardly do anything about. 

It is also questionable whether local policymakers understand this.

And what our leaders and policymakers probably don’t know is that this phenomenon – that others know more about us than we do ourselves – will probably get hundreds of times worse for countries like Suriname in the coming decades. This is an almost literal warning, which artificial intelligence (AI) experts have been issuing for some time.

An expert predicted, about six months ago, in several global interviews that, driven by the AI revolution, the gap between rich and poor communities in the world will widen at an alarming rate from 2026. 

It will get so bad, he predicted, that in fact, two totally separate worlds will arise on earth: one world in which an unprecedented high level of development and prosperity will be achieved with the help of artificial intelligence, and another where there will be more or less permanent struggling. 

It is not very difficult to guess in which world Suriname will end up. 

And according to him, it will also become increasingly difficult for interaction between these two worlds to exist.

In Suriname, we almost always miss these kinds of warnings. 

Now even more so because we are too busy with the course, Bordo, Bouterse, Brunswijk, Chan, Somo, Bronto, Richano, and the IMF, and making each other’s lives as sour as possible to get a little good feeling about ourselves.

What do we do with the current reality and everything that is about to come upon us? 

Data will dominate the world, even more than it already does, and determine whether or not a people can develop. 

Just as energy supply, food security, transport, healthcare, and education have been decisive for centuries in guaranteeing sovereignty, development opportunities, and the level of prosperity.

Do those in Suriname who are eager to pose as leaders and protectors even know what the state of affairs is worldwide and in which direction it will develop in the next ten, twenty, thirty years? 

There is no indication that we can consider ourselves safe in that respect. When it comes to data, we have virtually nothing compared to mega-entities who don’t care what happens to us here. 

Concepts such as sovereignty and self-determination will be reduced to little more than relative aspects and or paper tigers. 

Soon, those who have the best, the most and most reliable data will de facto determine what will happen in Suriname and the rest of the world. 

Whether Paramaribo wants it or not.

eyesonsuriname