Digital balance was the main theme of the gathering which VodafoneZiggo organized
in July, in Amsterdam. "The convenience of being connected to everybody,
is fantastic. But there is a downside, too", says Jeroen Hoencamp, CEO VodafoneZiggo. "Forty
percent of young people apparently experience stress due to being online all
the time. It’s something we cannot close our eyes to."
No wagging finger
"VodafoneZiggo feels a huge responsibility in this matter", says
Jeroen. "That is why we think it’s important to increase awareness and
enter into a discussion. Not in a pedantic tone, wagging our finger, but with
an open, realistic view. Our goal is not just offering telecom and media. We
want to bring enjoyment and progress with every connection, for companies as
well as consumers."
Digitization requires etiquette
The discussions during the DigiDiner proved that awareness should be high on
the agenda. It also became apparent that digitization requires etiquette. During
the evening the participants became creative in small groups to tackle possible
solutions. This resulted in dozens of ideas that were discussed and assessed one by one. Plans emerged
to develop a ‘wheel of principles’, a digital driver’s licence and a set of
etiquette rules. Which of these ideas will be adopted by VodafoneZiggo, will be
announced later.
Drifting apart
Marieke Dekker, Executive Director External Affairs at
VodafoneZiggo, emphasizes that the company is always eager to cooperate.
"We cannot do it alone. That is why we keep the conversation alive.
Earlier this year we had a visit from the Kids Council and we asked them what
we could do to help them deal with internet and mobile phones in a conscious
way. They came up with a surprising answer. They said: "It’s not just us,
but also our parents who are constantly looking at their phone. Telling us they
are busy working, but they aren’t. We might want to play a game sometimes, don’t
we?" Media were once designed to bring people together, but now we see
that they sometimes cause people to drift apart. I’m not saying there is one
solution only, the point is that you need to start a discussion together."
People and
bees
Inspiration for these talks came from artist Koen van Mensvoort. For years, a
leitmotiv in his work has been the question where humans and nature will all
end. "24 billion years ago, earth was a biosphere. Human
interaction has made it into a technosphere.
And this evolution is continuing. The entire world around us has already been
shaped and designed. We have become one with technology. Like the bees that
look after the evolution of flowers, we look after the evolution of technology.
And like fish that don’t realize it’s wet, we are swimming in a technological
environment. It’s now up to us to balance biology and technology. For it’s all
happening on one and the same globe, our earth."
Future
Yearning for the future was the theme of the speech delivered
by Bas Verhart of DFFRNT Media. Verhart explains:
"As organization we want to do something. Looking back, you could say that
the future has always been among us. If you look closely enough, our future is
already here. The question is what the future looks like. How can you enter
that future? It’s not about being for or against, we are interested to learn
about different perspectives."
The Future Society
VodafoneZiggo and DFFRNT are founders of the project The Future Society. This
group of inspiring experts from
various corners of our society organizes interactive sessions about the role
technology plays in our lives. Now, but especially in future. According to Verhart The Future Society knows two aspects: future
society and the group of people that gathers to talk about it. "We will be
sharing interesting backgrounds about the possibilities of technology ánd the
personal side of it. After all, as professionals we also have the
responsibility to think about ordinary issues, like stress and protection. We
want to make both innovative and sensitive matters a subject of discussion."