Stakeholders highlight technical regulations at the Digital Wellbeing – Voice of Nigeria Summit

Stakeholders attending the King Abdulaziz Center for Digital Wellbeing summit in Saudi Arabia stressed the importance of regulating technology before its negative impact leads to another major pandemic.

The summit presented statistics compiled from last year, which showed that 53 percent of people said that, given the choice, they would rather live without a close friend than their phone.

The summit, attended by 13,000 participants, was thematic in nature “Facing the Digital Paradox” intended for consideration “do we have the strength and intention to make the future of technology serve us, not us serve it?”

Summit leader Fahad AlBeyahi said the basis for the new global digital well-being report is a survey of 35,000 respondents, all over the age of 18, from 35 countries on five continents, including six countries in Africa, in including Nigeria.

The summit also focused on cyberbullying and featured an emotional narrative from Kristen Bride, who lost her son to suicide nearly four years ago due to the excessive trolling he faced on Snapchat.

After this incident, Bride became an advocate for social media reform, working tirelessly to save the lives of others.

The summit featured an outstanding program with over 70 speakers – industry professionals, academics, scientists, healthcare providers, government officials and innovation experts – from around the world.

Notable speakers include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Wired magazine co-founder Kevin Kelly, renowned Portuguese football manager José Mourinho and AI data analyst Rumman Chowdhury.

Speakers and panels took a largely optimistic view of the possibilities for progress if the global digital community remains ethically cautious and well-informed about how we use, regulate and interact with the growing role of digital technology in our lives.

Read also: Stakeholders demand more private financing for Africa during summit

Ayisha Piotti, artificial intelligence expert and speaker at the summit, said she entered the artificial intelligence sector “Because of excessive concerns about what will happen to the planet in the future and how technology will affect the lives of its children. As parents, we have two choices: either let it all happen or decide to play a role in shaping our children’s future.”

Other topics discussed at the digital culture summit included social media addiction, cyberbullying, increasing isolation and the mental health impacts of an increasingly efficient attention industry based on online platforms. The talks also focused on harm reduction by focusing on education, physical and mental health, and reducing the impact of bad actors on the lives of innocent people online.

One of the main findings of the study was that social media platforms are designed – 73% of respondents believe they are designed to be addictive, 52% are concerned about their health because of social media, and 53% say they use with technology over the last year has been positive, improving their performance and awareness.

Moreover, 62% of respondents believe they spend an appropriate amount of time on social media“which is a conscious decision.”

Additionally, 33% of respondents say they have taken control by deleting apps or turning off notifications.

Another important part of the study concerned online gaming, where 77% of respondents are addicted to gaming and 60% use mobile devices for gaming due to their flexibility.

“Synchronization will raise awareness among African communities so that before the pandemic of negative effects of excessive use of digital platforms affects them as much as other continents, they can be well prepared for the upcoming worst-case scenarios.” said AlBeyahi of Ithra.

The center aims to raise awareness and host a pan-African Digital Wellbeing Summit where stakeholders, policymakers and governments across the continent will be invited to discuss the impact of digital technologies, particularly on wellbeing and safety.