The Changing Global Landscape with Emerging Technologies and their Implications for Smart Societies

The opportunities offered by digital technology are enormous. The global social and economic system is being reconfigured at an incredible rate. Connectivity is increasingly reshaping our world and redefining the way we interact with our environment. The rise of digital technologies is transforming almost every aspect of modern life. We no longer have to wait for the next morning’s newspaper to learn what is going on in the world. And we have more information at our fingertips than ever before. Data on everything from the rhythm of our heart to the location of the 453 bus can be used to improve our day. A cluster of technological advances are changing how people live, work and play. Physical and virtual areas of our lives are increasingly becoming intertwined. More and more of our interactions are been mediated by machines. Along with the rapid evolution comes the risks, threats and vulnerabilities in the system for those who plan to exploit it. In this paper, firstly, we will be exploring the role of 5G, Big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Autonomous vehicles (AV) and cloud computing play in the context of smart societies, secondly, analysing how the synergy between these technologies will be used by governments and other stakeholders around the world to improve the safety of citizens albeit increasingly relinquishing our privacy rights and encouraging mass surveillance at the expense of our liberty.