singapore prime minister narendra modi today said every disruption should not be seen as destruction as he underscored the importance of a technology driven society in bridging the social divideobserving that technology is giving voice to millions around the world and helping in breaking social barriers modi also stressed the need for combining innovation with human values to resolve the challenges of the 21st centuryparticipating in a dialogue titled transforming asia through innovation at singapores prestigious nanyang technological university ntu modi spoke about the biggest challenges before the world in particular asiathe biggest challenge before us is that the 21st century belongs to asia but do we have this sentiment i think that is the biggest challenge he saidmodi said the notion that disruption makes destruction was not correctevery new innovation looks like a disruption in the beginning technology driven society helps in countering social divide he addedtechnology has to be affordable and userfriendly he said adding a technologydriven society breaks social barrierswe should not see every disruption as destruction people were apprehensive about computers but see how computers changed human history he saidmodi said skills for the digital age creating adequate jobs in the age of digital reception agricultural productivity water pollution rapid and mass urbanisation climate change building sustainable infrastructure and protecting the blue economy were some of the common challenges facing humankindthese challenges require collaboration among governments universities and laboratories policy interventions are important a lot of finance would be needed given the scope and magnitude we need innovation and technology to address these challenges he saidmodi cited a report by an american university on the economic development of 2000 years according to which he said india and china contributed to 50 per cent of the world gdp for 1600 yearsit is only the last 300 years where we find the dominance of the western world he saidif we can overcome our internal problems this interconnected world that we have if we can transform that into opportunities in the service of humanities for peace and for harmony then we together can make a huge contributionin human history india and china have dominated global trade for centuries at the same time there was no conflict we must think of furthering connectivity without any conflict he saidmodi cited the example of how space technology can be used for weather prediction water harvesting and helping fishermenwhen asked whether he sees any conflict between tradition on the one hand and globalization and modernization on the other modi said if technology if used to make weapons then it gives rise to conflicts but if innovation and technology are combined with human values then in the service of humanity the kind of force multiplier that it has cannot be imaginedas we went through the centuries there was innovation but in all this at the heart of this was ethics values and human values technology can contribute in a big way if it also combined with values he saidhe said technology is