In China today, if you walk into a village at will, you can hear the story of digital technology changing lives.
Editor’s note: This article is from the micro-channel public number “Zhao Jicheng Channel” (ID: zhaojcpd) , Author: Zhao Jicheng .
01 Digital economics in Chinese villages
During the outbreak, I found an interesting phenomenon during quarantine at home.
Every morning at breakfast, the family will talk about the epidemic situation. As soon as I said that the situation in Italy is not good now, my mother immediately went on to say, yes, what about the hospital over there, and how about the nurse over there …
I said that there was a local case in a certain place in the country. My mother took the conversation, and even said the name of the county directly, and said, “That’s not far from our hometown.”
Suddenly, I felt that the “information gap” between me and my parents was far less profound than in previous years.
For example, 17 years ago, during SARS, when communicating with parents, they often found that they were not on the same track, because they watched TV to obtain information, and I went online to obtain information. The source of information and the amount of information directly led to different ideas or even conflict .
Twelve years ago, the Wenchuan earthquake, the Beijing Olympics, and the communication between parents and their parents still had a strong “information gap.” Even the collision of ideas would be very severe.
Joseph Nai said, “Information is power.” This is true, but it is not enough. Information is not just power. It is also ideas, thoughts, and even the entire world of a person.
This time the new crown epidemic, the media for me and my parents to get information has basically leveled up, both are on mobile phones, and the app for everyone to watch the news every day is almost the same.
Of course, they ca n’t understand English, and they wo n’t go to Zhihu or B station, but if compared with the gap of “information gap” 20 years ago, 10 years ago, the degree of reduction is already drastic.
In 2019, I visited many rural areas in China. For example, in the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan, the frontline of the counterattack against Vietnam in that year, and the southwestern border of China was also a national key poverty alleviation area.
There, I found that local farmers use their computers and mobile phones to access the Internet, and through e-commerce platforms,The snowdrops grown in Dashan were sold all over the country, and their income increased a lot.
Many areas on the Bashang grassland in Zhangjiakou, Hebei are national poverty-stricken areas. Deep in the grassland, the local supermarket owner used his mobile phone to place orders and replenish, instead of wading through the mountains and running to the county as in the past; local farmers operating farmhouses used mobile phones to solicit customers, and tourists from Beijing came into the grassland deep.
In northern Jiangsu, China, there is an ordinary village called Shaji with a population of less than 70,000, but now has more than 16,000 online retailers. In 2017, Shaji’s furniture sales reached 9 billion yuan. , Accounting for 3.2% of China’s total furniture sales.
But just 10 years ago, this area was still a poor area. Local farmers mainly depended on agricultural production and recycling of waste plastics to make a living. They had no experience in furniture production and sales.
The first person to take the lead was a young man named Sun Han. After leaving college for two years, he opened a Taobao shop online, hired a carpenter to design and manufacture, and then sold it online. The first It sold for more than 100,000 yuan a month.
This caught the attention of the neighbors. Everyone learns quickly. Not only young people but also old people have joined in. The furniture industry cluster has quickly formed in the area. In order to support the industry, local governments have invested in new infrastructure and established a vibrant market. China’s largest e-commerce furniture cluster was born.
In today’s China, if you walk into any village at will, you can basically learn stories about how digital technology has changed lives.
02 Why the digital revolution is different than before
Ask you a question. Do you think digital technology is more helpful to the poor or to the rich?
You might say rich people, because without digital technology, there are no top rich people like Bill Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg.
But the answer can also be poor. Because from the point of view of marginal benefits, digital technology is the best way to help the poor, even out of poverty. In particular, it allows poor people to see the hope of getting rich, a kind of “inclusive” opportunity.
Luo Hantang published a new English edition of the book “New Inclusive Economy-How Digital Technology Promotes Inclusive Growth”, which specifically addresses this issue. Luo Hantang Secretary-General Professor Chen Long talked with Nobel economist Spencer not long ago. I noticed a detail. Professor Chen Long mentioned that digital technology is significantly “different” from the past several technological revolutions. This “different” allows digital technology to drive inclusive growth.
Specifically, how is it different?
First, digital technology has been adopted and penetrated faster than ever.
Taking the US as an example, to reach 25% penetration, it takes 35 years for the phone and 3 for the radioIn one year, it takes 26 years for TV, 16 years for personal computer, 13 years for mobile phone, and 7 years for Internet.
Second, the cost of using digital technology has never been lower.
Whether it is the steam engine revolution 200 years ago, the petrochemical internal combustion engine revolution 100 years ago, the electric power revolution 50 years ago, or the early computer revolution 50 years ago, all are top-down revolutions, not ordinary people can use and benefit immediately. Technological revolution.
But digital technology is not the same, especially the combination of the Internet and mobile phones. For ordinary people, the cost of using new technology is already unprecedentedly low. Luo Hantang’s data shows that in terms of digital technology adoption index, in many developing countries with per capita GDP below $ 5,000, the technology penetration rate is about the same as that of developed countries.
There is even a wonderful phenomenon. The less developed the economy, the higher the enthusiasm for digital technology and the faster the penetration rate. For example, more than 90% of the respondents in China and Indonesia expressed their willingness to use mobile payment. In India, this proportion exceeds 80%, in Kenya it is close to 80%, in the United States this proportion is less than 45%, and in France it is only 31%. Japan is less than 30%.
Third, digital technology is non-competitive. The more people use it, the more expensive the price will be, and the more scarce the resources will be. On the contrary, it will be more valuable and bring more benefits.
On this point, Jack Ma has a subtle metaphor that makes people suddenly cheerful. He said that “data as a resource has far greater value and significance than oil. Oil will be mined one day, and data, the more people who use it, the more The more valuable it is. “
I do n’t need to explain this too much, everyone has personal experience. There are “copy parties” abroad, and they believe in control + C. Technology thinker Clay Sheki wrote a well-known book, “Cognitive Surplus”, which is about how people use their spare time and energy to build an open and shared digital resource library. This library was unimaginable.
Speaking of this, I think of Malthus, a famous “pessimistic economist” in history. He always shouted “Wolf is coming”. We must pay attention to the scarcity of resources brought by population growth. But if he can foresee that the era of digital survival will come one day, digital technology will bring about non-competitive and non-exclusive growth. Even the more people use it, the more inexhaustible and inexhaustible it is. Wouldn’t it be completely rewritten?
03 Reducing the skill threshold is no less than raising the skill level
Since digital technology is so “different,” how can digital technology be used to drive inclusive growth?
Given the characteristics of digital technology and successful practice cases in China, in order for digital technology to achieve inclusive growth, it is necessary to increase the penetration rate of the technology, reduce the threshold of use, and it is particularly important to use the power of the platform .
I attended last yearA 5G themed summit. There was a person in charge at the scene from a large operator company. She said that everyone is talking about 5G, and the country is also vigorously promoting 5G, but have you ever thought that in the 5G era, you need to support huge traffic when you watch videos, watch movies, and enjoy driverless cars with your mobile phone. The cost is high.
She said that the government is promoting the development of 5G as a national strategy to reduce the cost of traffic as much as possible so that everyone can use faster Internet speeds, so many people use the traffic to “don’t feel bad at all, don’t feel . “
I was traveling to Dubai some time ago. This legendary place is rich in oil. It should be said that the door is irrelevant to this place, but I could n’t make a video call using wifi at the hotel I stayed in. It suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Convenience. Moreover, I asked the local Internet prices, which are not a little higher than domestic prices.
Of course, not every household in the country can afford the Internet. During the recent epidemic, I often saw news that in some poor families in rural areas, children could not learn online and had to go to the neighbors ‘homes to get a net. Some teachers even sat outside the courtyard of the neighbors’ home to watch classes. It’s distressing.
Reducing the cost of Internet access and the cost of using smart phones, so that more people, especially the poor, can easily access the Internet and enjoy the inclusive benefits brought by digital technology. It is really more than just money. The problem should also be a national strategy, which concerns national competitiveness, civil equality and national values.
Among them, digital platforms can play an important role.
Whether it is a farmer I saw selling snowdrops online in Wenshan, Yunnan, or a local farmer in Zhangjiakou, Hebei, who runs a homestay with a mobile phone, the furniture industry group in Shaji, Northern Jiangsu has a digital technology platform behind it.
Taobao, Alipay, Ctrip, Kuaishou, Douyin, these platforms are both “super-connectors” at both ends of supply and demand, as well as “ecological incubators” and “order maintainers”-they allow ordinary people to use digital technology to change production And the efficiency of life is greatly improved, and the cost is greatly reduced.
If viewed from the perspective of market elements, these digital platforms have created a new trust system; solved the consumer’s ability to efficiently search and match products; at the same time ensured the authenticity of the goods; ensured the security and convenience of transactions; and disputes arose In the meantime, the platform can also act as an order provider.
In the 21st century, if we say that digital technology is the greatest invention of all technologies, then the digital platform is the greatest invention of all these inventions.
04 From “creative destruction” to “creative construction”
Finally, let’s talk about what the government can do in the process of digital technology driving inclusive growth.
The government can do a lot of things, such as effective cooperation with enterprises, the government must consciously encourageMarket-driven innovation attempts. Do a good job in the construction of digital technology infrastructure and reduce the threshold for technology use. At the same time, we must protect employment, maintain market order, and protect data security.
Luo Hantang believes that in China, the success of digital inclusive growth depends first on the close cooperation between government departments and private enterprises, second is to encourage private enterprises to try, and finally to support the development of digital platforms.
Taking the e-commerce platform as an example, in the process of major e-commerce entering the rural market, the establishment of digital infrastructure can not be separated from the support of government departments. For example, laying a network, repairing roads, simplifying the registration process for small and medium-sized enterprises, helping villagers to collect and provide market information, and even helping farmers learn to go online, and to build local industrial clusters all require government efforts.
There is also government support for innovative attempts by private companies. In the past few years, the government has encouraged innovation and entrepreneurship; during the recent epidemic, it advocated new infrastructure and launched new technologies such as 5G, big data, and the Internet of Things; in the development of digital payment technologies such as Alipay, the government has not prevented innovation, which has allowed China to digitally pay The penetration rate is far ahead.
It is also very important that not all benefits brought by digital technology can also bring unemployment, unfair competition, infringement, and digital underproduction, which are also challenges that the government needs to respond to.
Just as a coachman becomes unemployed when a train appears, digital technology also brings unemployment to some people. The government needs to play the role of a social stabilizer to provide employment training and smooth digital harm; it must also crack down on cybersex and protect information; promote fair competition and promote the inclusive growth of the digital economy.
Innovative economist Schumpeter has proposed a concept of “creative destruction.” He believes that every innovation is achieved by destroying existing ones. This disruption is normal for the market, but it is a challenge for the government. Turning “creative destruction” into “creative construction” and turning disparity between the rich and the poor into inclusive growth is the responsibility of the government in the digital age, the responsibility of the digital platform, and the responsibility of the entire society.
Ask you a question. Do you think digital technology is more helpful to the poor or to the rich?
You might say rich people, because without digital technology, there are no top rich people like Bill Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg.
But the answer can also be poor. Because from the point of view of marginal benefits, digital technology is the best way to help the poor, even out of poverty. In particular, it allows poor people to see the hope of getting rich, a kind of “inclusive” opportunity.
Luo Hantang published a new English edition of the book “New Inclusive Economy-How Digital Technology Promotes Inclusive Growth”, which specifically addresses this issue. Luo Hantang Secretary-General Professor Chen Long talked with Nobel economist Spencer not long ago. I noticed a detail. Professor Chen Long mentioned that digital technology is significantly “different” from the past several technological revolutions. This “different” allows digital technology to drive inclusive growth.
Specifically, how is it different?
First, digital technology has been adopted and penetrated faster than ever.
Taking the US as an example, to reach 25% penetration, it takes 35 years for the phone and 3 for the radioIn one year, it takes 26 years for TV, 16 years for personal computer, 13 years for mobile phone, and 7 years for Internet.
Second, the cost of using digital technology has never been lower.
Whether it is the steam engine revolution 200 years ago, the petrochemical internal combustion engine revolution 100 years ago, the electric power revolution 50 years ago, or the early computer revolution 50 years ago, all are top-down revolutions, not ordinary people can use and benefit immediately. Technological revolution.
But digital technology is not the same, especially the combination of the Internet and mobile phones. For ordinary people, the cost of using new technology is already unprecedentedly low. Luo Hantang’s data shows that in terms of digital technology adoption index, in many developing countries with per capita GDP below $ 5,000, the technology penetration rate is about the same as that of developed countries.
There is even a wonderful phenomenon. The less developed the economy, the higher the enthusiasm for digital technology and the faster the penetration rate. For example, more than 90% of the respondents in China and Indonesia expressed their willingness to use mobile payment. In India, this proportion exceeds 80%, in Kenya it is close to 80%, in the United States this proportion is less than 45%, and in France it is only 31%. Japan is less than 30%.
Third, digital technology is non-competitive. The more people use it, the more expensive the price will be, and the more scarce the resources will be. On the contrary, it will be more valuable and bring more benefits.
On this point, Jack Ma has a subtle metaphor that makes people suddenly cheerful. He said that “data as a resource has far greater value and significance than oil. Oil will be mined one day, and data, the more people who use it, the more The more valuable it is. “
I do n’t need to explain this too much, everyone has personal experience. There are “copy parties” abroad, and they believe in control + C. Technology thinker Clay Sheki wrote a well-known book, “Cognitive Surplus”, which is about how people use their spare time and energy to build an open and shared digital resource library. This library was unimaginable.
Speaking of this, I think of Malthus, a famous “pessimistic economist” in history. He always shouted “Wolf is coming”. We must pay attention to the scarcity of resources brought by population growth. But if he can foresee that the era of digital survival will come one day, digital technology will bring about non-competitive and non-exclusive growth. Even the more people use it, the more inexhaustible and inexhaustible it is. Wouldn’t it be completely rewritten?
03 Reducing the skill threshold is no less than raising the skill level
Since digital technology is so “different,” how can digital technology be used to drive inclusive growth?
Given the characteristics of digital technology and successful practice cases in China, in order for digital technology to achieve inclusive growth, it is necessary to increase the penetration rate of the technology, reduce the threshold of use, and it is particularly important to use the power of the platform .
I attended last yearA 5G themed summit. There was a person in charge at the scene from a large operator company. She said that everyone is talking about 5G, and the country is also vigorously promoting 5G, but have you ever thought that in the 5G era, you need to support huge traffic when you watch videos, watch movies, and enjoy driverless cars with your mobile phone. The cost is high.
She said that the government is promoting the development of 5G as a national strategy to reduce the cost of traffic as much as possible so that everyone can use faster Internet speeds, so many people use the traffic to “don’t feel bad at all, don’t feel . “
I was traveling to Dubai some time ago. This legendary place is rich in oil. It should be said that the door is irrelevant to this place, but I could n’t make a video call using wifi at the hotel I stayed in. It suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Convenience. Moreover, I asked the local Internet prices, which are not a little higher than domestic prices.
Of course, not every household in the country can afford the Internet. During the recent epidemic, I often saw news that in some poor families in rural areas, children could not learn online and had to go to the neighbors ‘homes to get a net. Some teachers even sat outside the courtyard of the neighbors’ home to watch classes. It’s distressing.
Reducing the cost of Internet access and the cost of using smart phones, so that more people, especially the poor, can easily access the Internet and enjoy the inclusive benefits brought by digital technology. It is really more than just money. The problem should also be a national strategy, which concerns national competitiveness, civil equality and national values.
Among them, digital platforms can play an important role.
Whether it is a farmer I saw selling snowdrops online in Wenshan, Yunnan, or a local farmer in Zhangjiakou, Hebei, who runs a homestay with a mobile phone, the furniture industry group in Shaji, Northern Jiangsu has a digital technology platform behind it.
Taobao, Alipay, Ctrip, Kuaishou, Douyin, these platforms are both “super-connectors” at both ends of supply and demand, as well as “ecological incubators” and “order maintainers”-they allow ordinary people to use digital technology to change production And the efficiency of life is greatly improved, and the cost is greatly reduced.
If viewed from the perspective of market elements, these digital platforms have created a new trust system; solved the consumer’s ability to efficiently search and match products; at the same time ensured the authenticity of the goods; ensured the security and convenience of transactions; and disputes arose In the meantime, the platform can also act as an order provider.
In the 21st century, if we say that digital technology is the greatest invention of all technologies, then the digital platform is the greatest invention of all these inventions.
04 From “creative destruction” to “creative construction”
Finally, let’s talk about what the government can do in the process of digital technology driving inclusive growth.
The government can do a lot of things, such as effective cooperation with enterprises, the government must consciously encourageMarket-driven innovation attempts. Do a good job in the construction of digital technology infrastructure and reduce the threshold for technology use. At the same time, we must protect employment, maintain market order, and protect data security.
Luo Hantang believes that in China, the success of digital inclusive growth depends first on the close cooperation between government departments and private enterprises, second is to encourage private enterprises to try, and finally to support the development of digital platforms.
Taking the e-commerce platform as an example, in the process of major e-commerce entering the rural market, the establishment of digital infrastructure can not be separated from the support of government departments. For example, laying a network, repairing roads, simplifying the registration process for small and medium-sized enterprises, helping villagers to collect and provide market information, and even helping farmers learn to go online, and to build local industrial clusters all require government efforts.
There is also government support for innovative attempts by private companies. In the past few years, the government has encouraged innovation and entrepreneurship; during the recent epidemic, it advocated new infrastructure and launched new technologies such as 5G, big data, and the Internet of Things; in the development of digital payment technologies such as Alipay, the government has not prevented innovation, which has allowed China to digitally pay The penetration rate is far ahead.
It is also very important that not all benefits brought by digital technology can also bring unemployment, unfair competition, infringement, and digital underproduction, which are also challenges that the government needs to respond to.
Just as a coachman becomes unemployed when a train appears, digital technology also brings unemployment to some people. The government needs to play the role of a social stabilizer to provide employment training and smooth digital harm; it must also crack down on cybersex and protect information; promote fair competition and promote the inclusive growth of the digital economy.
Innovative economist Schumpeter has proposed a concept of “creative destruction.” He believes that every innovation is achieved by destroying existing ones. This disruption is normal for the market, but it is a challenge for the government. Turning “creative destruction” into “creative construction” and turning disparity between the rich and the poor into inclusive growth is the responsibility of the government in the digital age, the responsibility of the digital platform, and the responsibility of the entire society.
Finally, let’s talk about what the government can do in the process of digital technology driving inclusive growth.
The government can do a lot of things, such as effective cooperation with enterprises, the government must consciously encourageMarket-driven innovation attempts. Do a good job in the construction of digital technology infrastructure and reduce the threshold for technology use. At the same time, we must protect employment, maintain market order, and protect data security.
Luo Hantang believes that in China, the success of digital inclusive growth depends first on the close cooperation between government departments and private enterprises, second is to encourage private enterprises to try, and finally to support the development of digital platforms.
Taking the e-commerce platform as an example, in the process of major e-commerce entering the rural market, the establishment of digital infrastructure can not be separated from the support of government departments. For example, laying a network, repairing roads, simplifying the registration process for small and medium-sized enterprises, helping villagers to collect and provide market information, and even helping farmers learn to go online, and to build local industrial clusters all require government efforts.
There is also government support for innovative attempts by private companies. In the past few years, the government has encouraged innovation and entrepreneurship; during the recent epidemic, it advocated new infrastructure and launched new technologies such as 5G, big data, and the Internet of Things; in the development of digital payment technologies such as Alipay, the government has not prevented innovation, which has allowed China to digitally pay The penetration rate is far ahead.
It is also very important that not all benefits brought by digital technology can also bring unemployment, unfair competition, infringement, and digital underproduction, which are also challenges that the government needs to respond to.
Just as a coachman becomes unemployed when a train appears, digital technology also brings unemployment to some people. The government needs to play the role of a social stabilizer to provide employment training and smooth digital harm; it must also crack down on cybersex and protect information; promote fair competition and promote the inclusive growth of the digital economy.
Innovative economist Schumpeter has proposed a concept of “creative destruction.” He believes that every innovation is achieved by destroying existing ones. This disruption is normal for the market, but it is a challenge for the government. Turning “creative destruction” into “creative construction” and turning disparity between the rich and the poor into inclusive growth is the responsibility of the government in the digital age, the responsibility of the digital platform, and the responsibility of the entire society.