“Chile does not have a country project that transcends electoral periods and the governments in power.” Under this slogan, Proyecta Chile 2050 emerges, a politically transversal body that seeks, together with academia and business, to work collaboratively on a roadmap that projects the country for the next 50 years.
In conversation with The counterthe former senator of the PPD and current executive vice president of the Encuentros del Futuro Foundation, Guido Girardi, highlighted the uniqueness and importance of this project, which – in his words – is “the only instance that there has been in the history of Chile that brings together to the left and to the right in the face of a new phase of humanity.”
“I think that the democratic left and right have no response to the 21st century. They were great contributions to the 20th century and I believe that, in the void of proposals in a world that is governed by uncertainty, it is obvious that pseudo-left and pseudo-right populisms win, extreme, populist visions win, which use people’s fear to give answers that ultimately are not going to build a future,” said the former senator and main manager of Congreso Futuro.
With climate change, the absence of agreements in politics, an education with a paradigm typical of the last century, long waiting lists in health and even artificial intelligence (AI) as a potential threat to humanity, Girardi highlights that the development of The initiative has the support of the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies, the Government, universities, the union world, businessmen and civil society organizations.
Offer future
Guido Girardi’s analysis is blunt: “Today there is no political agreement, not even on things where we should have it, neither in tax matters, nor in education, or on how to deal with the issue of pensions and that is going to increase, the “Polarization is going to increase,” the former parliamentarian warned. And he added that “we are entering an era different from the Second Industrial Revolution. Our institutions were made for that era of certainty and stability, but now we live in a time of disruption and accelerated obsolescence.”
According to Girardi, governance in the age of artificial intelligence requires a speed and adaptability that our current institutions do not possess. For this reason, he reiterated, “it is important that the left and the right in democratic systems are capable of offering the future and offering governability, but we have to do it together, because politics today does not have the intellectual capabilities, the intellectual world does not have decision-making capabilities and neither are universities focused on the challenges of their country.”
Project Chile 2050 not only aims to build a consensus on the future of the country, but also to promote collaboration and altruism in a global context marked – in Girardi’s opinion – by polarization and selfishness. “We want to recover the conversation, because democracy is conversation and today it is almost impossible. “We want to recover hope that a Chile with a future can be built, when everything seems black and uncertain,” he expressed.
The former senator highlighted that “current education is not training people for the jobs of the future, but for a world of certainty that no longer exists.” Therefore, he stated, “we need to train adaptable and creative individuals who can face multiple professions throughout their lives.”
AI could surpass and displace humans
One of the most critical aspects mentioned by Guido Girardi is the threat and opportunity that AI represents. “Artificial intelligence can lead humanity to the best futures it could have ever imagined, but it is also the greatest threat, since poorly managed AI could surpass and displace humans,” he warned. He stressed the importance of making ethical and political decisions about the use and control of this technology, to avoid its monopolization by a few powerful groups (China and Silicon Valley).
According to the former parliamentarian, Proyecta Chile 2050 seeks to present a first consensual proposal for a country project in March of next year, which will serve as a guide for all candidates in future elections.
“This is a space of agreement and diversity, represented by different visions, political colors and disciplines. This inclusive and collaborative conversation is what Chile needs to face the strategic challenges of the future,” Girardi stressed.
As he explained, the 20th century was a century in which progress was made in various matters, but that world ended. “Just as previous generations thought about that society, it is up to us to think about the next one, but this one is much more complex, with much faster changes, which threaten even humans,” she said during the presentation of the project.
Coloma: “Leave aside a certain frenetic short-termism”
The project – whose work begins in July of this year – was launched yesterday Monday in the Valentín Letelier Room of the Central House of the University of Chile. The initiative had its origin within the framework of the Scientific and Technological Advisory Council of Congreso Futuro and the Council of Rectors of the Universities of Chile (CRUCh).
Project Chile 2050 consists of a “set of long-range proposals designed by hundreds of experts, business actors, government, civil society and academia, in different areas that are key to the development of the country, looking to the future,” stated the vice president of CRUCh and rector of the University of Tarapacá, Emilio Rodríguez, in the presentation of the initiative.
Regarding the role of universities, the rector of the University of Chile, Rosa Devés, added that “in times marked by modernity, these institutions – which have been trained for centuries for critical reflection, for respectful coexistence and for the exercise of collective creativity – are more important than ever. But to do this we must show society the value of our institutions and also the value of our communities and what results from them.”
Senator Juan Antonio Coloma (UDI), president of the Senate’s Future Challenges Commission, highlighted how this project was created and stated that we must “leave aside a certain frenetic short-termism that philosophers propose as one of the situations that today day pass in the world and that, probably, is hitting us the hardest.”
For her part, the president of the Chilean Academy of Sciences, Cecilia Hidalgo, referred to the pending challenges in education and health, and emphasized that “we have to generate knowledge and work in a harmonious way. That is why it seems to me that this idea that brings together such diverse actors in national affairs is a first, very important step to begin generating a route for the future until the year 2050.”
“At UC we are very committed to this initiative, to be able to make joint proposals on how we see our country in the next 30 years,” added rector Ignacio Sánchez. “And – added the university authority – the idea is to project, imagine, dream what we want for Chile, what we can do from the university and technical-professional system to contribute to society.”
During the ceremony, the work input represented by the publications of the 15 thematic tables of the Public Policy Hub of the Encuentros del Futuro Foundation was valued, in which more than a thousand academics and experts have already participated. These works, built from consensus, will be reviewed and updated to delve into areas such as education of the future, health of the future, economy and work of the future, development of renewable energies, potential and opportunities for resources such as green hydrogen and lithium. , the contribution of science, among others.
The presentation of Proyecta Chile 2050 also included the participation of the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel; of the deputy Francisco Undurraga; the regional governor of Valparaíso, Rodrigo Mundaca; from the president of the CTCI Council, Silvia Díaz; from the former undersecretary of the Ministry of Science, Carolina Torrealba; and the executive vice president of Corfo, José Miguel Benavente, among others, who will be part of the Executive Secretariat of Proyecta Chile 2050, an entity whose president will be the rector Emilio Rodríguez. Vice presidents will be the rector Ignacio Sánchez and Guido Girardi (executive vice president of the Encuentros del Futuro Foundation) and the director of the Encuentros del Futuro Foundation, advisor to the UC Innovation Center and business director, Alfonso Gómez, will take over as secretary. In addition, the president of Sofofa, Rosario Navarro, and the president of the Future Challenges Commission, Senator Juan Antonio Coloma, will join as advisors.