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Empowering small businesses in the digital age
Rajiv Garodia, global head of government solutions for Visa, delved into the critical role of small businesses in the modern economy, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a GZERO livestream event presented by Visa, Garodia says the pandemic exposed vulnerabilities of small and medium sized businesses including the lack of digital skills among many small business owners. As consumer behavior shifted towards digital channels, small businesses found themselves unable to keep pace. The ability to collect payments became increasingly reliant on digital transactions and those unable to offer digital payment options risked exclusion from the broader economy.
To address this issue, Rajiv emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts between the private and public sectors. He says governments and businesses must work together to equip small businesses with essential digital tools, from fostering digital literacy to providing necessary technology solutions, such as creating digital storefronts, enabling digital payment acceptance, and utilizing digital tools for accounting and inventory management.
Technology plays a pivotal role in leveling the playing field for small businesses. Rajiv shared an ambitious initiative aimed at digitally empowering 50 million small businesses by 2023. The innovation here lies in simplifying access to digital payment infrastructure by enabling smartphones to accept payments, a transformational leap towards digital inclusion for small business owners.
To hear more about the challenges and opportunities that nation-states face when it comes to digitization, and how it could shape a more inclusive and resilient future, watch the full livestream conversation:
What Ukraine's digital revolution teaches the world
How to get students back on track after the Great Education Disruption
As the 77th UN General Assembly gets underway, much of the attention will go toward how to breathe new life into the Sustainable Development Goals. Why? Because the pandemic wiped out years of progress on meeting the 17 SDGs, especially No. 4: ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.
COVID disrupted the lives of some 1.6 billion students around the world. Almost 150 million missed about half of in-person classes in 2020, and 24 million will never return to school.
So, how can we get education back on track before it's too late? Several experts weighed in during the Global Stage livestream conversation "Transforming Education" hosted by GZERO Media in partnership with Microsoft.
The data on the pandemic's crippling effect on education are not enough to get a real sense of the "picture of this time," said Leonardo Garnier, special adviser for the UN's Transforming Education Summit. Still, now we have an opportunity to invest in education like we've never done before — including in low-income countries where the government and businesses actually benefit from a cheap, uneducated labor force. Investing in education, Garnier added, is not only a moral imperative but a wise economic decision because it comes with big long-term payoffs like more educated women entering the workforce.
American Federation of Teachers Executive VP Evelyn DeJesus, for her part, explained how during the pandemic kids were walloped by multiple traumas, arguably the least of which was having to learn on Zoom. She believes it would have been a miracle if test scores hadn't dropped. While recognizing the failures of remote learning, DeJesus still thinks we need to spend big — no more belt-tightening — on broadband access for all, and resents how education has become a political football in America.
COVID's wrecking ball to education exacerbated divisions not only between but also within countries, which in the future will disrupt politics when people get angry from losing out on opportunities, said Eurasia Group Vice Chairman Gerald Butts. How can we stop this? With more global cooperation on education, which should be a "continuum" for everyone, everywhere.
Vickie Robinson, general manager of Microsoft's Airband Initiative to expand global broadband access, said that despite the disruptions caused by the abrupt switch to remote learning during the pandemic, we still need to invest in digital infrastructure because it might just happen again and we can't afford for our kids to lose any more school time. Who should do this? Robinson believes the responsibility for digital inclusion should be shared by governments and the private sector.
Finally, one silver lining from COVID on higher education is that for many workers it shifted the focus from going to the right school to having the right skills, noted Jonathan Rochelle, VP of Product Management, Learning Content & Instructor Experience at Linkedin. And it'll continue, since acquiring skills in lifelong learning must be "a moving target."
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Oct 7 panel on digital inclusion in the workforce
Teaching digital skills could empower the workforce the 21st century needs, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
On Wednesday, October 7th at 11a ET/8a PT/4p BST, GZERO Media — in partnership with Microsoft and Eurasia Group — presented a live panel discussion, "Digital Inclusion: Connectivity and Skills for the Next Billion Jobs," about the acceleration of digitalization, the changing workforce, and the need for digital access for all.
The conversation was moderated by Sherrell Dorsey, founder and CEO of The Plug, and our panel included:
- Kate Behncken, Vice President, Microsoft Philanthropies
- Lisa Lewin, CEO of General Assembly
- Parag Mehta, Executive Director and Sr Vice President, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth
- Dominique Hyde, Director External Relations, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- Rohitesh Dhawan, Managing Director, Energy, Climate & Resources, Eurasia Group
Sign up to be notified about future GZERO Media events.
Go to
https://www.gzeromedia.com/unga/livestream/ to watch our livestream events. (No registration required.)
For more information, read our explainer on Digital inclusion: Activating skills for the next billion jobs, part of our coverage of the most pressing issues facing the 2020 United Nations General Assembly, and watch this video.
Internet Connectivity & the Need for Digital Inclusion: Access, Training, Skills, Jobs | GZERO Mediayoutu.be
Digital Inclusion: Activating Skills for the Next Billion Jobs: Wednesday, October 7th, 11a ET/8a PT/4p BST