Digital Society Index: Building the Future in 2018

The Digital Society Index, a report from digital communications company Dentsu Aegis Network, shows that among 20,000 respondents in 10 countries around the world, only 29% believe that emerging technologies will create new job opportunities. China's optimism about job prospects far exceeds the global average.

The UK and Germany are the most pessimistic countries, with only 18% of respondents in each country believing that emerging technologies will provide job opportunities. In the US, 23% are optimistic.

Against the backdrop of the digital economy, more than half of the respondents in countries other than China are pessimistic about future work.

In July last year, the State Council issued the "New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan", which clearly defined the strategic goals of China's AI development. It is planned that by 2030, the scale of the core AI industry will exceed 1 trillion yuan, driving the scale of related industries to exceed 10 trillion yuan.

In early January this year, Beijing announced that it would invest US$2.1 billion to build the Zhongguancun Artificial Intelligence Science Park in Mentougou. It is expected that more than 400 companies will move into the science park to work, with an annual output value of approximately 50 billion yuan.

China's optimism about technologies such as AI and robotics is reflected not only in government and policy support, but also in education issues.

68% of the Chinese surveyed believe that the knowledge currently received by Chinese students meets the needs of the development of a digital society. However, in other countries, most people believe that the education provided by schools is not enough.

Except for China, the people in other surveyed countries believe that the current form of education cannot meet the needs of the times.

The report also reflects the public's concerns about the security of personal information.

Among the Chinese respondents, 47% believed that companies’ use of data was relatively clear and explicit, and they were the most trusting of technology companies among the countries surveyed. Only 23% of the respondents believed that companies’ use of user data was transparent, and only 22% in the UK.

Most respondents believe that companies are not transparent in their handling of public data, and China is no exception

In an era of fake news, addressing the problem means companies must be more open. “Transparency is becoming a key differentiator,” said Tim Cooper, global head of strategic communications at Dentsu Aegis Network.

The report also includes an overall ranking of countries in terms of "digital economy".

The ranking looks at how fast each country's information and communications technology industry is developing, how tech-savvy its people are, and how much they trust companies and governments with their personal data.

The UK topped the list, followed by the US and China. The UK did particularly well in encouraging its citizens to engage with technology, the US was the country with the strongest growth in the AI ​​industry, and China ranked highest in terms of trust.

Dentsu conducted an online survey of 20,000 users in Australia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom in the summer of 2017. The researchers used the survey data and a model from consultancy Oxford Economics to create a Digital Society Index.

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