How the Global South Can Be Future Ready | Uzair Younus on Innovation & Abundance

Описание: Key Points of “Future Ready: Book Talk by the Author”
Dialogue Initiator: Uzair Younus, Summary by Aleena Wajid

• The main objective of the book, “Future Ready: Innovation, Abundance, and the Global South” authored by Uzair Younus is to provide a roadmap to look at history, particularly the Industrial Revolution and how it shaped the economy and innovation sector etc.
• The author highlights in his book that developing countries like Pakistan face three kinds of scarcities, namely energy, capital (i.e. money), and productivity . He mainly discussed the productivity factor in terms of ‘labor productivity.’
• All such elements are basically interconnected wherein the absence of either of them negatively affects the population’s productivity. For instance, there is cash-based economy in Pakistan, so people often face various issues when trying to open a bank account as the process is quite complicated and time-consuming.
• The banking system in Pakistan is not ‘formalized’ due to which the capital does not get accumulated which ends up becoming another problem.
• In addition, he argued that Pakistanis are facing a new revolution in terms of ‘innovation’ and that he has also laid out a blueprint of this revolutionary project (s) in his book.
• Solar power and clean energy are needed in contemporary times and the positive thing to note is that they’ve become a ‘possibility’ today rather than a mere dream.
• Pakistan was one of the first countries to make Digital Identity Card, but unfortunately, it did not work on it any further. On the contrary, India did achieve progress in this regard, particularly in the form of digital payments.
• Credit system is essential for a country that wants to accumulate or increase its capital. Fortunately, things are gradually improving in Pakistan, for instance, with the introduction of ‘Raast system’ and ‘EasyPaisa.’
• One of the major challenges for Pakistan is scarcity of capital and the elites’ unending appetite for the very capital.
• In his book, Uzair Younus has also given a policy framework for both levels (i.e. individual and government). In this context, he stated that decentralization of technologies is significant, and people should be encouraged to experiment, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship.
• A country like Pakistan cannot develop without improving its energy sector due to which ‘abundance’ is required, besides keeping its technological innovation in check.
• Farmers in Pakistan ought to be provided with data-driven crop insurance programs. This has been implemented in other countries, and it is high time for Pakistan to adopt this strategy as well.
• Lastly, a proper task force is required in Pakistan when it comes to innovation. The government needs to improve its resource mobilization, along with ensuring a higher literacy rate for the nation, especially when it comes to the female population.

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