Tony Blair has called for governments around the world to give each resident a digital identity to enable the resumption of normal activity and ensure retraining for citizens to promote economic recovery.
Predicting a sharp downturn in the economy as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Blair said the world needed a common, digital platform for recovery. Both before and after the outbreak of Covid-19 Mr Blair said technology represented a transformation for humankind to equal the Industrial Revolution more than two centuries ago.
The former British prime minister told an online conference on artificial intelligence, CogX, that restarting social and workplace interaction presented formidable challenges.
The foremost was certifying those who had contracted Covid-19 so that they could undertake unrestrained activities and carry a portable record of their disease status.
"When I look at how you restart businesses and international travel, unless you're able to record people's disease status in a way that can be used, it's going to be difficult to go back to anything like a near normal," he said. "Unless you are able to do testing and have somewhere to record it you are not going to go back."
As for the current situation, large swathes of the global economy were facing disruption or collapse, he said.
"I can’t see the travel, tourism, hospitality business coming back any time soon," he said. "Bricks and mortar retail has had its day."
Those trends compounded the need for retraining and educating the workforce with digital skills. A digital identity would provide a platform for universal access to new opportunities.
"You are going to be re-equipping people so make a virtue of it," he said.
Mr Blair explained why the coronavirus-induced shutdown would be so far-reaching, and why technology innovation was the obvious response. He said people were wrestling with two aspects of the disease: while it presented a lethal threat, the risk was not uniform to all in society.
"This is a disease that if you know enough about it, you don’t want [to get] it but the truth is only a small number of people will contract it and only a small amount of people will have it any one time," he said.
Thus the crisis was different in character from the shock to the economy delivered by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States and the 2008 financial crisis.
We've had more innovation in health care in the last 10 weeks than we've had in the last 10 years
"With 9/11 or the global financial crisis these were big talking points but people carried on with their lives," he said. "The difference with this pandemic is that everyone’s life has changed."
In particular he outlined his concerns about the disruption to education and added a warning on the effect on Africa, which is still to come.
"There is great risk to an entire group of young children, usually the most socially deprived or the most economically disadvantaged, of not having an education," he said.
Many African leaders remained convinced that the cure of shutdown was worse than the toll from the disease. He said there were three open questions for the continent on the progress of the pandemic: were governments "not testing enough, [was] the spike yet to come or could it be there is an additional resistance [to Covid-19] within the population?"
Mr Blair urged governments to undergo the shock transformation that health care around the world had taken but said he was worried that bureaucracies would kill attempts to respond to the downturn with innovation.
"We've had more innovation in health care in the last 10 weeks than we’ve had in the last 10 years," he said. "Are we really saying we want to go back to face to face consultations or are we really saying with those online courses that we want to go back to lecture rooms?
"What’s going to be interesting is whether government itself can change," he added. "The toughest things are getting things done and governments don’t like change, bureaucracies have a genius for inertia."
While digitally portable 'health passports" have been described as unworkable by the World Health Organisation, Mr Blair's ideas of a digital ID reach far beyond the immediate impasse that it would address.
A report from Mr Blair's Institute of Global Change issued on Tuesday said the ID could be built on a "user-centric model of digital identity that puts individuals in control and protects their privacy".
The briefing said governments should agree "internationally interoperable standards for credentials so that they can be widely recognised by a range of organisations".
It said mobility was important and highlighted the type of QR systems used in the UAE as the cornerstone of the country's test-and-trace systems.
"States that already have a modern identity infrastructure have a head start in issuing mobility credentials, since these can be associated with specific individuals relatively easily," the 18-page briefing said. "Governments must therefore ensure that any mass, rapid testing regime also confers a mobility credential: a biometrically secured digital code (eg a QR code) stored on a person’s phone. Individuals would then present this code when entering specific settings."
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Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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Teams
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shanwari, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Corey Anderson, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Colin de Grandhomme, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Seth Rance, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
Race card
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m.
2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m.
2.45pm: Handicap Dh95,000 1,200m.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh120,000 1,400m.
3.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,400m.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,950m.
The National selections:
1.45pm: Galaxy Road – So Hi Speed
2.15pm: Majestic Thunder – Daltrey
2.45pm: Call To War – Taamol
3.15pm: Eqtiraan - Bochart
3.45pm: Kidd Malibu – Initial
4.15pm: Arroway – Arch Gold
4.35pm: Compliance - Muqaatil
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: CVT
Power: 170bhp
Torque: 220Nm
Price: Dh98,900
Four tips to secure IoT networks
Mohammed Abukhater, vice president at FireEye in the Middle East, said:
- Keep device software up-to-date. Most come with basic operating system, so users should ensure that they always have the latest version
- Besides a strong password, use two-step authentication. There should be a second log-in step like adding a code sent to your mobile number
- Usually smart devices come with many unnecessary features. Users should lock those features that are not required or used frequently
- Always create a different guest network for visitors
The years Ramadan fell in May
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Messi 23' pen, 45 1', 48', Busquets 85')
Celta Vigo 1 (Olaza 42')
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The Rub of Time: Bellow, Nabokov, Hitchens, Travolta, Trump and Other Pieces 1986-2016
Martin Amis,
Jonathan Cape
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
