From Connection to Belonging: Digital Infrastructure for a More Human Future

Dr Claudia Schulz, Research Director at Pivot & Co. spoke at the NAB Europe Insight Series, focused on digital infrastructure for an increasingly connected society, held during Paris InfraWeek 2024. To open the discussion, Dr Schulz challenged the audience and panel to think beyond bandwidth, data lakes, and connectivity metrics by posing this fundamental question:

“In our race to create an increasingly connected society, have we overlooked the deeper human need for belonging?”

Drawing from philosophy, pop culture, and personal experience, Claudia invited the room to reimagine digital infrastructure not just as a system of cables and code—but as a foundation for inclusion, community, and meaningful connection. Before the panel took the stage, she offered a timely and compelling provocation: what if belonging is the true infrastructure we should be building?

A transcript of the provocation:

Good afternoon, before we welcome our esteemed panel to discuss the future of digital infrastructure for an increasingly connected society, I’ve been asked to spend ten minutes with you (15 if you’re lucky, and if I’ve poorly managed my time) to engage in what the French like to call

‘a little, provocation’.

Don’t worry, as you can probably hear - I am Australian, much like this building. But I have lived in France long enough to know that we enjoy a little intellectual debate here. Also, ever since I received my PhD, my father has been waiting for me to step into a my role as he sees it as an agitator so today is his lucky day.

“Are we being propelled toward greater isolation rather than genuine connection?”

So what will this provocation look like, and why am I doing it?

Well, see, I’m a bit worried and - there’s an ulterior motive you see for me being here - I’m hoping the panel discussions today will reassure me.

I’m a bit worried that we’re currently inhabiting this age of unprecedented technological advancements, that our digital networks are enabling deeper, faster and more frequent connection, that allow us to work more quickly, more efficiently, remotely. But I’m not so sold. I’m worried that in our pursuit of this increasingly connected society, of ever-growing data lakes of information generated each time we train a model or post something on social media, that this is just an illusion and instead we are being propelled toward greater isolation rather than genuine connection.

Every time I pick up my phone, knowing my brother in rural Queensland is one WhatsApp message away, I wonder - is this connection that this - albeit small - piece of digital infrastructure has afforded me - genuine? Is this doing us good? Or has it substituted something else - something more important? Well, I’ve co-opted you all in examining this trade-off ! Today, I want to talk to you about connection, and ask:

“if (and how) we, as investors in large-scale infrastructure projects, as builders of physical digital infrastructure and as designers of AI systems that require this infrastructure to operate, if we’re on the right track in pursuing increasing connectivity? And, potentially, at what cost?”.

So! The first provocation I want to put on the table is the word: belonging. And the second provocation, the idea: that providing connectivity to society is not in fact as important as providing: belonging. It is true that technology has enabled us to reach out and connect to anyone around the globe with the tap of a screen, but what do we risk if we overlook that fundamental human need: to belong? In terms of digital infrastructure, what would this look like?

Well on the one hand, we have proxies for connection:

Connectivity metrics. Bandwidth. User engagement. Energy consumption. Data volume.

And on other the hand we have proxies for belonging:

The human impact of connectivity: Community. Relational health. Measures designed to include isolated or differently abled individuals. Frequency of meaningful interactions.

For instance, think about the way data scientists collaborate on projects. Are we merely sharing files through platforms like GitHub, or are we actively engaging in conversations that allow team members to share their thoughts and backgrounds? How are we ensuring that remote workers— often community members in their own small geographical contexts—feel integrated into the broader organizational framework? If our digital environments merely serve as lines of access, we risk fostering networks without substance—we enable connections devoid of belonging.

Before we get het up, convinced of the design problems we face in our digital bubble, let’s take a quick step back and see if this trade-off is indeed present in other areas of life or society at large.

Well at present, there’s no larger society than Taylor Swift fans at an Eras Tour concert. As any Reputation Era Swiftie would know, during the height of her fame, Taylor Swift was surrounded by friends and fans, she was hyper connected, but she faced intense public scrutiny, slanderous gossip, an eating disorder and cancellation. During this era, she examines her fear of vulnerability and the desire for genuine connection amidst the noise of being highly visible and connected. In her words: she went underground, nobody saw her for a year, as a way to reestablish a sense of belonging to her own life. Some could argue the result of - quite successfully - examining this tradeoff has been the Eras tour itself…”a raucous sequinned celebration of belonging, identity and inclusion for 70 000 people every night”. Not my words, but Deadpool’s (Ryan Reynolds for the uninitiated).

OK so celebs have struggled with connections devoid of belonging. Where else can we look? Current affairs. In September this year 2024 in a piece titled “When social media felt real”, The Atlantic noted that digital platforms - by their design, I might add - often prioritize sensationalism over substance, leading to polarization and fragmentation.

These platforms provide the illusion of connection, post by post.

The constant barrage of tailored content fosters an environment where meaningful discussions - that could have enabled this elusive sense of belonging - are eclipsed by outrage and division.

And we move on. Perhaps back in time to the beginning of last century before social media was a phenomenon that kept pollster Nate Silver up at night...the original introvert Jean Paul Satre said ‘hell is other people’ suggesting that seeking connection with others in the place of unity and belonging leads to frustration, alienation, and discord. Given the way he and provocative feminist Simone de Beauvoir commandeered all the tables at Cafe de Flore on Boulevard Saint Germain each night with an adoring entourage, so much so it has now become a must-see check-box for visiting tourists, it would seem he knew a thing or two about prioritising belonging over fleeting connection.

OK, this tour through time and place seems to confirm that being worried about the trade-off between increasing connectivity and belonging is real. What about the good news, the solutions? Well I’m sure our panel will expose much to us about the future and I’m very excited to hear from the group of experts gathered today.

But before I leave you, I’d like to table a few examples of what I think are good solutions to centering belonging in our conversation about connectivity.

First, smart cities. Buzz word of the mid 2000s. Done poorly, smart city digital infrastructure - like sensors, and cameras - can make inhabitants feel surveilled and alienated. Done well, when we centre the need of citizens to feel belonging, smart cities can provide efficient services, smoother traffic conditions that are respectful of differently-abled pedestrians, and even community art, as MOD Gallery did in 2022 at the University of South Australia - using IoT data from the city to produce an interactive experience.

Second, TeleHealth. Buzzword of the early 2020s. Done poorly, we remove the GP from community health networks - an often necessary advocate for well-being. Done well, TeleHealth provides faster and better access to medical and mental health professionals in a way that does not jeapoardise existing relationships among patients and caregivers. Another good example of centering this notion of belonging in connectivity is in transport infrastructure. Done well, we create an urban network of well-designed pedestrian pathways and both local & high-speed transit options.

So, much like we have started centering people in our pursuit of Corporate Social Responsibility, by evaluating the social impact of policies....and much like we have started centering people in how we pursue a sustainable Energy Transition by considering heterogeneity in energy demand of different populations in policy design....how might we centre people in our pursuit of increasing connectivity by ensuring that what we invest in, build and design has considered how it might make people feel as though they belong to something instead of just plugged in?

Thank you.