Andrew Liveris on education and technology

Continuing his theme of resilience, Andrew looks at how education can support the dynamics of change by underpinning the intersection of business, government, and society.

Andrew says that change does sit well across the left verses right dividing political line, inclusiveness from a government policy point of view doesn't tend to secure votes.

Division secures votes.

He asks us to think of the politics of a certain class of politician, holding up a lump of coal saying, “vote for me because I'm going to support your job because you work in coal.”

Andrew says following that you then hold up an environmental policy platform and say, “vote for me and I'm going to get rid of coal.”

The coal people won't vote for you, the environmental people will. This is the policy of division not resilience – against the actual resilience need to reduce emissions.

However, he does note that the inclusiveness intersection of business, government and society would say, “that I am going to provide a new type of job. I'm going to train you for that job. I'm going to let you know how that job occurs, and oh, by the way it moves from here to here in this time frame. And I'm going to look after you, not as a nanny state, but I'm going to invest capital in your future as it helps us build resilience.”

He told John that this is the debate that will shape public opinion. He wonders where the debate of this nature will come from. Who will it be generated by? It is not coming from the media anymore; the media is lost in their own division-driven debate.

Andrew concludes that most people don't get the facts they need from the media, they get divisive opinion.

So, looking to the future, Andrew asks where can wider society access inclusive information to help build resilience? He considers that perhaps society can best access this through the reimagining of the role of universities.

Universities can be the providers of these important facts feeding into context that ultimately feeds into policy in a manner that everyone can access.

He challenges universities to become a place designed for all citizens. This does not mean just and environment of purely online learning, but a place intent on bringing together communities of interest in subjects spanning society, politics and technology leading us towards resilience.

Andrew asks Universities to rethink access to universities and to consider the length of their degrees. He wonders if the 4-year degree is outdated, and too long? He states that modern technologies and teaching methods can reduce this time.

To make this happed Andrew wants to see a mix of educated people, academics, and business representatives talking about matters contributing to resilience.

If successful, a type of politician needs to emerge from the education process. This politician should know the facts and can translate into policy that builds resilience. Under this model everyone has a mandate to run for political office.

Andrew believes that global problems can be solved by people at an age of 20 through to 30 and wishes to see them enabled to do so. Chemical Engineers are trained not only to identify problems but are trained to provide solutions, this should be an incredibly exciting time for them.