MAP Insights

I remember the Y2K phenomenon when right before the year became 2000, everyone was waiting for the start of the millennium because people said computers could blow up, files may forever be lost and anything we had saved in our laptops would disappear into thin air. Well, guess what? We are still here 25 years after that “fateful” prediction on Dec 31, 1999.  We waited with bated breath and then nothing happened. Rather, what happened is that we learned to adapt to QR codes, emails and chat groups. Depending on which country or area of the world, you would need a messaging platform, like Viber, WhatsApp, Messenger, Line and WeChat for other areas in Asia.

How about the road to 2030? What will we expect five years from now? Will the earth implode due to warmer climate, or will the seas combine and make us into Pangea again? We need to prepare for another way of life after 2030 because it looks like we are not going to solve the Climate Crisis in such a short time. So just like how we feared the year 2000 or the millennium, here we go with 2030 and Climate Change. What must we do then?

For the next five years, we have to adapt, change our ways and think of a new world because, as we speak, it is already changing. Just like everyday life, we now must adjust to ordering from robots or using our phones to place an order from a restaurant. Everything we need is available online (almost) making brick and mortar stores irrelevant. Everything we need to file with government has to be online, and payments are now mostly cashless, for ease and security.

We, the boomers, have seen the biggest changes over many decades from rotary phones to mobile phones, from reel tape recorders to Spotify, from 8mm films to Netflix. And we are still here to see what will happen in five years or 2030, knock on wood? I am happy I was born the time I was because I saw the changes happening before my very eyes and how human nature just adapts without complaints. Like they say, those who don’t adapt will die.

We now see five years as our end goal to reverse Climate Change, to fulfill the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) which used to be the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) until the millennium came and nothing yet had changed. We see the next five years as our chance to see a better world, if we start to act now.

In the corporate world, we see many more changes, such as: work from home arrangements, talent acquisition challenges, and increasing wages due to inflation. How do we address these changes in the next five years? Many have seen 2030 as our date to beat and that will come sooner than later.

Maybe what will really change is the way the world will operate. We will not disappear in 2030 but we will see new institutions, new rules and new laws. Already, we are seeing companies merging, instead of competing, we are seeing new forms of governments or what seems to be a new way of dealing with global powerhouses. Can you live without the USA or can you live without China? As global boundaries have disappeared e-commerce wise, we will soon find that all this jockeying for power will soon be a thing of the past. Everyone must learn to live with what used to be foreign and as they say be “glocal” – a term we started to use when the internet started to blur boundaries. Thinking global but remaining local.

Even in poor countries, like the Philippines and India, the internet and social media have allowed people to learn and to know about what happens everywhere and overseas. Transparency has happened without forcing it, only because social media has made everything public and transparent.

While everything has become transparent, it has also become very public and only the very few can afford to have privacy. Your digital footprint says it all. If you wish to know someone, just “Google” them and you will get instant information about them.

So, what must we do towards 2030?

Let’s make sure our companies follow the path of honesty and integrity. If you are to survive, you must walk the talk, be a real person and a real honest company.

Let’s make sure our companies have a role in saving the planet, by observing eco-friendly practices, even when no one is looking.

Let’s make sure our people are prepared to work from home, if need be, towards building better and closely-knit families.

Let’s change the tide of migration towards reintegration of our OFWs to come back and serve the country.

Let’s keep our talents well-paid at home to serve our countrymen – our teachers, doctors and nurses must not see immigration as their ticket to success.

Let’s grow our own food and work towards food security down to the smallest social unit which is the family.

Yes, 2030 is a mere 1,500 days or so away but we can work towards building a better future with home-grown talents, less imports, and going back to basics. All these can be done even while our digital natives have made our systems more efficient, transparent and public. One day at a time, one company at a time. We all need to change and adapt or die.

It is going to be a new world. What will be destroyed is the old world filled with dishonesty and discord. And we will wake up to a new world order, sooner than later. We have to do our part now so we can face 2030 squarely in the face.

So, let’s wrap our arms around technology and embrace it with a positive attitude. Whether in biotech or AI, technology will help us reach this milestone and deal with the new world by 2030.

(This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or MAP. The author is Co-Vice Chair of the MAP Environment Committee. She is also the President of Philippine Coffee Board Inc. and Slow Food Manila (www.slowfood.com). Feedback at <map@map.org.ph> and <pujuan29@gmail.com>).