PMI report exposes tech adoption vulnerabilities

A recent Project Management Institute (PMI) report highlights how the pandemic has exposed deep vulnerabilities in technology preparedness and disparities in access and delivery of services such as health and education.

PMI recently released its report on long-term business, geopolitical and technological trends that are reshaping the world and the kinds of projects that will be most prevalent and critical in the years to come in the face of these disruptions.

The report draws on trend data, secondary research, and interviews with project professionals, news reports, and industry data to elaborate on a range of cross-cutting and urgent themes.

Five key trends highlighted in the report are:

1. Impacts of the pandemic. The impact of Covid-19 revealed deep vulnerabilities in technology preparedness capabilities and deep-seated inequities in health, education, and economic systems.

2. Climate crisis. The climate crisis is compelling leaders in every sector to collaborate and marshal resources on a global scale to alter the broad trajectory of climate change and mitigate its many near-term consequences.

3. Equality movements. The global wave of protests spanning the past decade has revealed that change is not a question of if, but rather when, and has sparked a growing corporate commitment to racial, gender and ethnic diversity.

4. Globalisation dynamics. Emerging markets hold the promise of addressing long-festering challenges like global poverty, as well as the potential to reap the demographic dividend, but still require significant global investments in infrastructure and education.

5. Mainstream AI. The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has rewired the possibilities for technology and continued learning, but leaders must grapple with the ethical implications of AI on the complex issues of bias and inequality.

Sunil Prashara, author of the report and President-CEO of PMI, says understanding social impacts and taking initiatives in that direction is key to project leadership. Prashara states that these challenges will continue to drive demand for versatile and bold project talent who can help make social impact projects a strategic priority, foster open and innovative partnership ecosystems, and rethink relationships with customers and wider stakeholders.

PMI is a worldwide association of project, programme and portfolio management.

Image: Project leaders must take social initiatives if they must keep pace with current global trends, the report reiterates.