DUBAI — The health crisis that the world is living through, due to the coronavirus pandemic, has forced governments to play a bigger role in lessening the profound negative psychological impact of the pandemic on people around the globe, which requires an approach based on data-powered technology and advanced sciences. These were the topics of discussion during two recent webinars, as part of the online series organized by the World Government Summit Foundation until June 26. The series aims to enhance the role of governments in responding to the new frontiers set by the novel coronavirus and shape the future of governments in the post-coronavirus era by analyzing the latest developments and effects of the virus on governments worldwide. State of Global Emergency: Rising Social Tensions During the COVID-19 Pandemic Dr. Arie Kruglanski, distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of Maryland, addressed a webinar on how the world is going through the pandemic psychologically, dealing with the uncertainty and how it can emerge from it. Entitled “State of Global Emergency: Rising Social Tensions During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” the virtual session was moderated by Mina Al Oraibi, editor-in-chief of the Abu-Dhabi-based newspaper, The National. Dr. Arie Kruglanski said that besides the devastating human death toll of more than 400,000 globally and the harsh negative impact on the global economy, with some 21 million unemployed in the United States alone, the negative psychological blow to people was also profound. "The bad things that could happen to people in the pandemic are varied — some have to do with physical survival, others have to do with economics and finances, yet others with loneliness and isolation. However, and you might be surprised to know it, at the bottom, they tap the same fundamental threat. What is this underlying threat, you might wonder? It’s the threat to people’s sense of mattering and personal significance," Dr. Kruglanski said. "This need to matter, have significance, be recognized, have respect, is a major human motivation discussed by major social philosophers all the way from Aristotle to Sartre. Losing loved ones to the pandemic, losing one’s job, one’s ability to provide for one’s family, losing one’s own life and being reduced to nothing, a speck of dust — they all represent a threat to one’s significance and mattering. They represent the threat of being disempowered, divested of our dignity, deprived of our humanity." Asked about the role of governments in these very trying circumstances, Dr. Kruglanski said: "Indeed, in times like these, the role of governments could not be more important. It’s times like these that people clamor for strong, wise, and empathetic leaders that would assure them that they matter, their lives matter, their suffering matters and that governments will not let them perish." "These findings define two important tasks for governments in the corona crisis — one is to provide love and care empowerment to the people, the sense of being supported by the government in the time of crises; and the second is to confront and counteract the negative trends, the way of hate, and channel people’s universal quest for significance in the positive direction." Asked to what extent are public health concerns, such as the coronavirus, more deadly and destabilizing than human acts of terror, he said: "The human psyche is malleable; we pay attention to one thing at a time. At this point, the salient threat comes from the pandemic. Even though our attention is diverted from terrorism, the terrorist threat is, if anything, growing, because the far right and other types of terrorism are intensifying their propaganda, their recruitment efforts, even their attacks. So, we are not as concerned; subjectively, our attention is diverted elsewhere. Governments and societies have to remain vigilant because this thing is not going away." On the role of international organizations, Dr. Kruglanski said: "It’s an affliction that impacts all of humanity. Therefore, international organizations should have a very prominent voice in asserting the concern about the world as a whole. So, solidarity and mutual help should be rampant, obvious, and salient. I think this is a great role for internationalism, for global forums such as this one (World Government Summit) and other organizations that are responsible for human population as a whole." Post COVID-19: How Data Will Shape Resilient & Agile Financial Ecosystems The webinar featured David Craig, CEO of Refinitiv, one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure, and Saeed Al Awar, Head of Middle East — Rothschild & Co, a leading independent financial advisory group, addressed the webinar entitled ‘Post COVID-19: How Data Will Shape Resilient & Agile Financial Ecosystems’. The online session was moderated by Axel Threlfall, editor-at-large, at Thomson Reuters. David Craig, pointed to what he said was a massive rise in data collection today, adding that essentially every company and government has to become data-focused. "Fifteen or so years ago, someone coined the phrase that data will become the new oil. I think, in the modern world, data is new energy, and it’s gone from analog to digital. The velocity and frequency and veracity of data has increased 10 times since that first statement was made, and we see that every day in everything that we’re doing. "So, I think some of the big trends are the ability of any company to consume, absorb, interpret, and act on the data. To do it in a way that is bridging the silos in their own departments, be it governments or large corporations, and their ability to interpret that and react on it on a daily basis is going to set winners and losers aside. "Every company really has to become a data company, and those that do that really well and do that of scale and do that in an agile way, will succeed, and the same goes for governments as well. And I think this conversation around transparency was incredibly important because actually the more transparent you are, the more investment you’ll attract and the more trust you’ll create. Craig also discussed the importance of transparency and disclosure, especially with regard to COVID-19 data and statistics. "If the transparency falls down, the confidence will go, and the debt problem increases. I think there are multiple places where actually transparency and trust in country-level data is incredibly important at the moment. In a way, having the bad news out is better than trying to hide the bad news, because trust will be reduced even more." Saeed Al Awar, said making more data and information available was fundamental. "When someone doesn’t give you enough disclosure or transparency on data, naturally, the human reaction is — you become a bit suspicious. What governments need to realize is that if you don’t disclose, people tend to become more conservative, and then they tend to discount and disbelieve. No matter what you say, people will always take the more conservative view. This is how we do things from an investment perspective. "There’s a lot of things you could do (to improve data availability), if you start from a regulatory perspective — we look at simple things like our equities markets in the region, the level of depth of reporting that is available in these markets does not enable you at all times. Different companies have different practices, there’s no consistency in the availability of data, even with listed companies. "I think governments need to be better at disclosing data more broadly about the activity within the economy." "Moving countries is no easy thing. I think we have leadership in the region that is quite determined to make a change in a positive manner, and it’s not always easy. What countries in the region need to do is use the change in mindset, the willingness to adapt to the changing reality, as an opportunity to bring, at a government level, people aligned and information gathering easier. "Silo mentality prevents the information from being shared — we see that sometimes. I think that becomes a big hurdle for governments to make the right decision. So, I do think it’s an opportunity to make a lot out of it, and I think the months and the few years coming will show us whether they’ve done that or not." The webinar also touched on the rising importance of alternative data, or information gathered from non-traditional information sources, vis-à-vis fundamental data. Gathering and analyzing such alt data which can tell investors what’s ahead, and can yield insights beyond those gleaned from regular fundamental data sources, which are mostly backward-looking, Craig said. He added: "I think part of the revolution that’s happening around alternative data now is the internet of things, and mobile devices, and the way that you can actually gather information on human and machine activity, and satellite data, which is now becoming a far quicker and easier way basically to ignore the regulatory and governmental constraints sometimes." Craig said the boundary between alternative and fundamental data was shifting, and what’s alt today may become fundamental at a later point. The World Government Summit Foundation in May launched an online series, "COVID-19 & Government", discussing the global impact of COVID-19 and the future of government beyond this pandemic, hosting 30 global speakers, experts, and government leaders. — WAM