Globalization, interconnection or sustainability

Resumen

At the dawn of a century where scientific research is defined byglobalization, interconnectedness, and sustainability, humanity faces challenges that, while titanic, also offer unprecedented opportunities to build an equitable and resilient future. These concepts are deeply intertwined, which is why this issue of the International Alliance of Researchers (ALININ) Scientific Agenda addresses these issues from multidisciplinary perspectives, exploring the links between science, technology, humanities and public policies in a global context.

Globalization, understood as the growing exchange of goods, services, ideas and cultures across borders, has redefined development paradigms. However, this phenomenon is not without contradictions. Economic integration has generated wealth and prosperity in some regions, but it has also exacerbated inequalities and caused environmental damage that transcends nations (Márquez & Sorhegui, 2021).
However, globalization also poses significant challenges. Inequality in access to resources and financing creates gaps between developed and developing countries. While research centers in rich countries have advanced infrastructure, researchers in poorer regions face constraints that hinder their full participation in global science. This imbalance perpetuates dependence on developing economies and reinforces traditional power structures in knowledge production.
Interconnection as an emerging innovative theory, applied to educational praxis, contemplates the connection between individuals and their internal and external environment. In connectivism, researchers play a transcendental role, given that we face the challenge of training researchers with a holistic, integrative perspective, since in a multicultural and interdependent world it can only be understood from a plural perspective that articulates cultural identity, global interconnection and multidimensional politics (Coronel de León, 2022).

However, interconnection also brings with it risks and challenges. Information overload and the proliferation of low-quality data can make it difficult to identify rigorous research. In addition, reliance on digital infrastructures poses cybersecurity risks and systemic vulnerabilities that could compromise the integrity of scientific data.
Another crucial aspect is the digital divide. Although access to the Internet and digital tools has grown significantly, inequalities persist that limit the participation of some researchers, particularly in rural regions or in developing countries. This underscores the importance of investing in connectivity and digital literacy to ensure that interconnectedness is truly inclusive.
On the other hand, there is currently no doubt that sustainability has become a guiding axis of scientific research, especially in the face of the environmental and social challenges of the present. This concept appears, as a normative criterion for the reconstruction of the economic order, as a condition for human survival and a support to achieve sustainable development, problematizing the very bases of production.