Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School, Bhaskar Chakravorti, chats with VIA about Digital Inclusion
School is back in session. And, it’s pop quiz time!
Did you know?
- ➡️ There are as many smartphones on the planet as there are people.
- ➡️ There are more smartphones than toilets and they are more accessible than clean water.
- ➡️ This year marks the 50th anniversary of the internet.
Despite the rapid growth in technology, there are still 2.5 billion people without access to the internet and 260 million fewer women have access than men.
Behind the scenes, ready to go live from VIA HQ!
Chatting about digital inclusion, Demi Moore’s Law and what it means to be a Digital Refugee!
These are a few of the gems from our VIA Visionaries interview with Bhaskar Chakravorti, recorded earlier this month. In this episode, we were able to ask Bhaskar about his work in digital inclusion including, why he chose it as his area of research, why digital inclusion matters to communities where food and shelter is scarce, and what businesses and individuals can do to make a difference.
So, what can we do about this?
We need to raise awareness, get more people and organizations on board to help solve these issues, and we need to give the tools and support to the creative individuals with the right digital solutions.
At the end of the interview, Colin asked Bhaskar if he had any words of advice or wisdom for what individuals can do in their lives or careers to improve digital inclusion and make a difference in that area. His response was inspiring (and a bit cheeky):
“My generation has handed their generation quite a mess. A mess in many dimensions. Which is bad news and good news. Bad news is, it’s a mess. Good news is, if you have the tools to clean up the mess, you will be employed forever. My job is to figure out how to give you the tools…
…there is a lot of hope, particularly for digital technologies in playing a very important and powerful role to clean up some part of the mess.”
As our devoted followers know, we are making communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable. Come join us in this effort and spread awareness for digital inclusion. Whether you are an enterprise, government agency, or an inspired individual, message us at info@solvewithvia.com. We are all in this together to make the world a better place.
Be sure to follow along on VIA’s website and social media (LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Threads) for the latest.
Bhaskar Chakravorti is the Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School at Tufts University – America’s oldest exclusively graduate school of global affairs. He is the founding Executive Director of Fletcher’s Institute for Business in the Global Context and founder and chair of Digital Planet, one of Fletcher’s flagship research programs that studies the impact of technology on lives and livelihoods around the world. Bhaskar is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, “The Slow Pace of Fast Change: Bringing Innovations to Market in a Connected World” (Harvard Business Press) and is the creator of the widely-used Digital Evolution Index. He has been featured in widely-read journals and books including, Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, among others.
