As you read this,
our planet is exploding with a steady rise in population. Indeed, the world
population may reach 9 billion in 2030, from about 7 billion now. This means we
will soon have over a billion additional people living on our planet.
Add
to this, the economic growth of nations, along with climate change, will create
immense stress on our planet. By 2030, we will see increase in food demand by
over 50 percent, energy demand by 40 percent and water demand to exceed global
availability by 40 percent.
Significantly,
the urban spaces will struggle most to keep pace with this growth as half of
the world population lives in urban areas squeezing the resources, and the
number of urban dwellers grows each day. No doubt, some estimates indicate that,
~3.5 planets Earth would be needed to sustain a global population achieving the
current lifestyle of the average European or North American.
This
brings us to ponder about the existential question: Is our world ready for 9
billion people? How can we create a better tomorrow for our people, and the
planet? How do we optimize our resources to build a sustainable future?
An
interesting corollary is the United Nations theme for World Environment Day
(celebrated on June 5) this year - Seven billion dreams. One Planet. Consume with care…While the intent of
the campaign is noble and the aim is to raise awareness about environmental
issues and call for action, it must become our collective endeavor not to
relegate such commemorations to mere rituals, and inane tokenism.
So,
how do we transform over 7 billion dreams into reality? Realizing a brighter
future for the humanity, calls for forward thinking and innovation - rooted
deeply in open collaboration, amongst individuals, enterprises, public private
partnership, academia, data scientists, cities and nations.
It’s
all about creating more sustainable lifestyles, individually and collectively,
and adding value to all our activities. This is vital since we will not have
three planets to sustain our way of life, but for the One.
To
actualize this existential dream we need to push for sustained innovation, and
build smarter building, smarter homes, smarter cities and smarter nations. We
need to think green and act like real innovators who see what everyone else
sees, but think of what no one else thinks. We need to refuse the status quo,
design inspirations into greener solutions and transform ideas into game
changing products and services.
As
a first step, we need to embrace system thinking, and tap the most abundant
natural resource on earth, data - flowing all around us, between devices,
individuals, homes, buildings, enterprises cities and nations – across globe.
This is crucial, as every minute, every instant that we’re online, we’re trying
to make sense of a blizzard of data. By using sophisticated analytics, not just
instinct, we can make our world more integrated, and more sustainable.
For
instance, precision agriculture can help us meet our food needs. Drought
resistant and disease resistant strains of cereals and fruits can improve the
bounty of the crop yield. Intelligent supply chains and warehouses can keep
food fresh from farm to fork, and keep our inventories healthy. Smarter
transport systems can ease commuter pain and kill pollution. Smart grids can
our help prevent black outs and help optimize our water resources. Green
building can reduce energy consumptions.
We
can make this happen and much more if we can tap into actionable insights
emanating from our disparate systems. More so, since in this information age,
we’re all information analysts. And, living smart within planetary boundaries
is the most promising strategy for building a healthy future. Of course, it
starts with an individual action that leads to collective power…and translates
to exponential impact.
Let’s
take a moment to think how we live, work, play, shop, travel and eat - how it
impacts our planet and how we can optimize our resources. It’s high time for us
to walk the talk. As T J Watson once expressed, “all the problems of the world
could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that
men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because
thinking is such hard work.” Are we ready to take the plunge? The time to act
is now.
The Blogger is Kiran Kumar
Yellupula: The views expressed here are purely
personal. Please share your feedback at mediavalue@yahoo.com
