The imminent arrival of the 5G network brings us back to the digital revolution in all its dimensions and breadth. Just look at the areas covered and we are immediately at the gateway to a brave new world or, if you like, a disquieting new world.
The digital revolution is already there, at various speeds, just spell it out in its countless variants:
– The internet of objects (IOT) and home connection services,
– Robotics and artificial intelligence and the piloting of industrial production services,
– The services of cloud as well as its manipulation on the periphery of networks,
– The drone, video surveillance, geolocation and personal security services,
– Autonomous vehicles, electric mobility and the connection between them,
– Precision agriculture, the biotech revolution and the piloting of production,
– Brain-computer interfaces and immersive technologies of augmented reality
– The great revolution in logistics and transport services,
– The large area of circular bioeconomy and the revolution in waste/resources management,
– The large area of preventive forestry and the management of rural and forest areas,
– The large area of teleservices, from medical and educational services to legal services,
– The great area of Smart cities e smart regions and the urban management of public services,
– The large area of computer security services and combating cybercrime,
– The large area of energy services, public and private,
– The great area of medical technologies towards transhumanism and post-humanism.
Over the decade 2020-2030, the rankings of the digital economy will tell us what is the state of the art and what are the technological and digital arrhythmias (economic and social) that concern us the most, whether in industrial development, services or markets work or in our social relationships.
The management of networked territories, platforms and network actors
One of the most salient points of application of the digital revolution will undoubtedly be the future management of the territory, , e ex situ.
In addition to the already classic example of smart city, let's look at some spatial configurations that are perfectly possible for the management of networked territories, their platforms and corresponding network actors:
1) An inter-municipal agro-ecological park and the construction of a local agro-food system (SAL), formed by producers and consumers, (for example, to manage a program of institutional food) can be administered by a network actor that integrates a CIM, a professional school or agrarian superior, an IPSS association; these entities appoint a dedicated mission or administration structure for the purpose,
2) An area of protected landscape and the villages that make up the park, plus the park's producers club and environmental association and the nearest polytechnic school or university propose to modernize the park's production system, creating, for this purpose, its own agroecology, a geographical indication of provenance (IGP) and a visitation strategy through a bolder and more imaginative territorial marketing; the entities create a mission structure, the actor-network, for the management of this territory-network,
3) A tourist development, a protected landscape area, a city council, a local development association and a professional school, propose to upgrade a tourist development and adjacent area and create a new quality public space for accessible, therapeutic tourism and recreational based, for example, on a small agglomeration of therapeutic, creative and cultural activities created for this purpose; the entities create a mission structure, the actor-network,
4) A group of riverside villages, in the area of influence of a lake, a reservoir, a dam or watershed, the tourist operators in the area, the local development association, the agroforestry producers club, an agricultural college or agricultural professional, propose to launch a creative and integrated agro-tourism and rural tourism strategy that includes, for example, the participation of visitors in traditional agro-rural practices; for this purpose, the aforementioned entities create a mission structure, the actor-network, for this purpose,
5) A group of villages specialized in a particular sector or product, the Alto Douro wine villages, for example, a World Heritage Site, associates with tourist enterprises, associations or clubs of producers, a higher or technical school -professional, the most prominent cultural associations, with a view to designing a joint strategy for visiting and enhancing the natural and cultural heritage of that sub-region; the aforementioned entities create a mission structure, the actor-network, for this purpose,
6) A group of agricultural cooperatives or farmers associations, a food distribution company or supermarket chain, an association of municipalities in the same area, an agrarian college or university, join together with a view to designing a joint strategy for agroecological modernization and commercial for a sub-region that was the object of large public investments and that needs to update its marketing strategy (Alqueva and Cova da Beira, for example); the aforementioned entities create a dedicated administration, the actor-network, for this purpose,
7) One or more Forest Intervention Zones (ZIF), forest producer associations, game reserves, protected landscape areas, agroforestry companies, a college, the villages involved, join together to form an agroforestry system ( SAF) multipurpose with a view to creating an intervention strategy that ranges from the prevention and recovery of burned areas to the construction of agro-forestry-pastoral systems with their basket of forest products; the entities create a dedicated administration, the network actor for this delicate network territory,
8) A research center in the area of ecology and ecosystem rehabilitation, a natural park, an agroforestry association, rural tourism companies, spa companies, a local development association, propose to create an action-research program with a view to preserving biodiversity, improving the offer of ecosystem services and the commercial enhancement of these ecological and landscape assets through the launch of new tourist, cultural and scientific services; for this purpose, the aforementioned entities create a mission structure, the network actor, for the proposed network territory,
9) A business group in the area of thermal and/or mineral waters, a protected landscape area, an environmental or local development association, a polytechnic college, the local association of producers, the villages and towns in the area of influence of the project, propose to create a kind of "exemplary sanctuary or ecosystem" that is a place for learning and visiting good agroecological practices where one can observe and learn the diversity of agricultural production methods, landscape ecology and habitat rehabilitation , conservation economics, low carbon and renewable energy, recycling and composting practices, etc; the aforementioned entities create a dedicated administration, the actor-network, for this purpose,
10) But we could also mention other territories in critical condition in need of urgent intervention and "social network": ghettos and urban neighborhoods, pendular territories, territories of 2nd residence in rural areas, tourist territories suffering from seasonal stress, decaying industrial areas , disordered forest areas, neglected watersheds, abandoned wastelands, etc; in each case, it is necessary to ask what is the best formula for “collective action and social innovation” that can and should be promoted.
In all the cases referred to, sooner or later, the technological devices, platforms and their respective applications become current use, but we will soon realize that, equally or more relevant, are the specific characteristics of the actor-network and the effectiveness of your community and network of relationships.
Final Notes
The digital revolution, to be successful, in all the aforementioned areas, needs a positive and oriented interaction between virtual communities, generated by digital platforms born on the internet and smartphones, and real communities, generated by social relations born on the day day-to-day contacts and exchanges between producers and consumers, services and users.
In other words, the digital revolution, given the complexity of today's problems, forces us to look for an organization that is capable of effectively responding to this fundamental interaction.
The actor-network is the agent of this new intermediation for the digital economy and the administrator of the collaborative platforms that come here, in a co-production and co-management mode.
It is, therefore, an innovative organization that will assume multiple formats depending on the areas of activity, endowed with a minimum of complexity and differentiation, but, above all, with a lot of territorial collective intelligence to face and solve the challenges of today's world.
Author António Covas is a Retired Full Professor at the University of Algarve
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