The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Agile Governance

-- A lecture by Professor Xue Lan

October 18, 2019

 On October 18, 2019, the Tongji Serial Lectures on Social Sciences No.18, hosted by the Institute for China & World Studies and the School of Political Science & International Relations (SPSIR) of Tongji University, was successfully held in Conference Hall 518, Huiwen Building, Tongji University. Dr. Xue Lan, a senior professor of liberal arts (1st batch) at Tsinghua University, a Changjiang Scholar of Public Administration in China, and Dean of Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University, was specially invited to give a keynote speech on the topic of "The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Agile Governance" for teachers and students of Tongji.

 The lecture was moderated by Men Honghua, a Distinguished Professor at Tongji, President of Tongji Institute for China & World Studies, Dean of SPSIR, and Director of Tongji Base for Research on International Cyberspace Governance under CAC and MOE.

 As a leading scholar in China with a solid research basis, a broad academic vision and a precise insight into the reality, Prof. Xue gave a presentation to the audience, in four parts, about the impact of technological change on human society and the response of government’s decision and governance to technological innovation. A logic closed loop from technological development to governance policies was built in his presentation around the two keywords of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and agile governance.

 First of all, Prof. Xue revisited the history of technological development and explained what 4IR means. After experiencing the previous three industrial revolutions involving steam technology, electric power technology and electronics and information technology, mankind is facing a new historical development stage – the Fourth Industrial Revolution that is an integration of physical space, biospace and cyberspace. It is marked by artificial intelligence, biomedicine, new energy, and nanotechnology, etc. It has been creating new opportunities and challenges to the development of human society. Then, Prof. Xue discussed the characteristics and impact of 4IR through reliable data and abundant cases. He pointed out that 4IR is distinctly different from the previous three in velocity, depth of impact, and scope of impact. In this process, 4IR has brought many benefits to people’s lives with their rapid technology proliferation. For example, the application of AI has significantly expedited economic development; the breakthroughs in life science and materials science may profoundly change the relationship between man and nature and the interpersonal relationship; the extensive use of information technology has changed the social life of mankind in all aspects; the innovation of renewable energy will cause major structural changes to energy use in the near future. Meanwhile, 4IR has also posed new challenges to mankind in areas from employment opportunities and economic equality to moral principle and data privacy.

 Then, Prof. Xue pointed out that in the previous three industrial revolutions, China was a responsive latecomer benefitting from technological innovation at a later stage, but it had managed to reduce the adverse effects by drawing on the experiences of other countries. However, as a member spearheading the 4IR, China is now in the leading position in certain emerging technologies, and accordingly it is also assuming a major country’s responsibilities in terms of technological innovation. In view of this, Prof. Xue clearly put forward the basic requirements for China as a pioneer to cope with 4IR. First, improve weak links in scientific research. According to relevant statistics in sci-tech papers, although China has become the world's second largest sci-tech powerhouse through rapid growth, there is still a huge gap between China and the US. Second, build bridges through technological innovation. A comparison of the industries in China and the US shows that China has developed some advantages in engineering and efficiency-driven industries, but its core industries based on scientific research still lag behind those of the US, and the industrial development is unbalanced. Third, develop long-term strategies through institutional arrangements. It is necessary to foresee and govern the social impact as a result of technology application; to integrate university education and enterprise practice synchronously; to balance innovation and governance and push forward agile governance; and to actively explore international rulemaking and achieve global participation.  

 Finally, Prof. Xue elaborated on the role and enlightenment of agile governance in 4IR. Agile governance has reshaped the policy governance of 4IR. As an adaptive, people-oriented, inclusive and sustainable policy-making model, it can not only harness changes and learn from them, but also make actual or perceived contributions to public value. Based on the deep thinking of policy practices, Prof. Xue believed that to develop agile governance, China should abandon the traditional one-sided pursuit of “efficiency”, focus on multi-agent collaborative governance, make full use of big data, use weak interventions to achieve strong policy effects, and build into innovative and learning government. In view of the representative significance of AI and the research progress of Tongji University in AI, Prof. Xue specifically introduced China’s efforts to promote the development of AI in recent years. With regard to the issues to be considered in AI governance, he pointed out that in terms of policy process, it is necessary to reasonably use laws and regulations and other policy tools, use the Internet to solicit public opinions, pay attention to multi-stakeholder cooperation, and strive to build consensus; in terms of policy output, it is necessary to follow the principles of harmony and friendliness, fairness and justice, inclusiveness and sharing, respect for privacy, controlled security, shared responsibility, open collaboration, and agile governance, to coordinate AI and governance and balance innovation and governance. By means of guidance and assistance, multiple interactions and positive incentives, it is likely to promote economic, social and ecological sustainable development, build a global community of shared future, and develop AI in a responsible way.

 Prof. Xue’s exciting speech was based on detailed and accurate data and penetrating analysis of the reality. He not only had a scientific review of history and literature, but also shared his own observation and reflection, presenting an academic feast for the teachers and students present. In the interactive session after his presentation, Prof. Xue carefully answered questions raised by more than 10 students from different schools at Tongji.

Dean Men expressed his sincere respect to Prof. Xue for his brilliant lecture. He pointed out that Prof. Xue analyzed the history and reality of technological development for the audience based on solid data and forward-looking analysis, and proposed many practical governance measures, enabling the audience to gain a deep understanding of the logical connection between technology and governance. China must not only embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but also demonstrate our capacity for strategic design. Faced with the profound changes unseen in a century, China should and must conform to the trend of the world, focus on global innovation, and strengthen agile governance, which is in line with our national development path.