Towards a Resilient Society – Technology 5.0, Risks and Ethics

Society 5.0 as “super-smart society” is the key element of the Japanese 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan by the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation 2016. It became a political highlight of the Japanese government and was taken over 2017 and 2018 as a vision for the Japanese economy and society, to take over the lead ahead of the world to make people’s life more comfortable and sustainable.
Smart Systems, i.e. largely deployed and interconnected CPS (cyber-physical system and IoT networks) and integrated intelligence and autonomy are considered the drivers of innovation. In all industrial and social areas highly automated or autonomous intelligent systems are taking over tasks and services – and maybe, one day, control of our lives. The keynote will raise questions and discuss impact, risks, ethical issues and challenges such as “Can a technology dependent and technology driven society be resilient and sustainable? Can technology make a society resilient and sustainable? Will the role of humans change in such a society? What are the trade-offs with respect to human rights, self-determination, independence or will “Big Brother” control risks become overwhelming? The keynote will address issues that are already evident now and how resilience, sustainability and ethical issues are now discussed in different context – particularly how can a resilient society manage a crisis like the Climate Crises, and Covid-19 – a situation that has revealed vulnerabilities and will hopefully lead to a rethinking of some economic and societal systemic issues.