The above is the theme of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities meeting that I attended in Taipei last week. The topic is timely. With the advent of digitization, a digital race is on, and the world is increasingly divided between the digitally saavy and those left behind. “Digital” is both our future and our division. Universities are expected to play a key role in bridging this divide.

The digital future is already with us. The rise of artificial intelligence, big data, robotics, have disrupted our economies and personal lives. Your smart phone understands your speech, recognizes your face, guides you to your destinations, knows what you like, allows you to communicate globally, and is your library of information. Cars will soon drive themselves. Shopping will be increasingly online. Perhaps even education too, soon.

Individuals, corporations and societies that are either “driving” this train of digitization, or at least getting on board early, will benefit from the economic and social benefits that will accrue, be it in increased productivity, or better and healthier lifestyles. Those not willing, or not able, to get on this train will fall behind and will increasingly rely on others to provide them with digital services, at a cost. There will be haves and have-nots. The threat of inequality in sharing the benefits from this revolution is real.

Universities are at the center of this disruptive revolution. Its research is the engine that drives the train forward, and its graduates and faculty members are the talents that will be the drivers. Companies will play a big role: not only can they harness university research, but increasingly they are leading the research agenda. The global corporate tech giants have the resources to recruit the best talents, and market accessibility to collect massive datasets crucial for this technology. Governments are also scrambling to formulate policies to strike a balance between encouraging innovation and economic development versus protecting the individual rights and privacy. Only those who adapt well in this brave new world will succeed.

Because of the importance and urgency of this topic, this year’s APRU meeting was particularly engaging. HKUST’s Professor Pascale Fung was an invited panellist and she opined that cross-sector and cross-border collaboration will become crucial in this fast evolving landscape. The two leading AI “superpowers”, the US and China, enjoy a “language advantage” of English and Chinese being the most spoken languages in the world and thus the corresponding large datasets are most abundant, giving their AI engines unparalleled advantage. Peter Cowhey from UCSD pointed out that digital technology is changing the innovation and value-added structure of every industry, even the most traditional ones. It is also creating giant firms with enormous economy of scale and scope at a global level not seen in human history before.

Medicine is a prime example of where the disruption has already started, according to Yang Pan-Chyr, former President of NTU. Targeted gene therapies for cancer depends on the availability of large datasets from different ethnic groups. For example, lung cancer is much less related to smoking for East Asians than for Caucasians, especially for women, but the corresponding genetic markers have much higher prevalence for East Asians, making targeted therapy potentially more effective. But smaller ethnic groups, not having the large datasets, may lose out.

Politics, privacy, economics and security can also cause digital divides. Concern for these issues often lead to government policies which create barriers for the digital engines to reach the datasets. Health data often cannot cross national borders, economic data can have competitive values and use of communication data needs to be balanced between privacy and security concerns.

Finally, the role of research universities in this context has become increasingly important because their innovation and research output drives this digital revolution. Seiichi Matsuo, president of Nagoya University, said it best: “Universities are important assets of the whole of humankind, regardless of countries….In the era of the digital revolution, we should reconsider the role of the university.”

The Pacific Rim has been known for its “Rim of Fire” of seismic activities. I hope that the new “fire” will be the fuel for a digital revolution that will benefit everyone.