Wang Hongmei: Elevating the Level of Social Security Governance in the Digital Era
With the extensive application of a new generation of information technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing, the digital economy is penetrating every field of social production and life with unprecedented speed and breadth, becoming an important engine for driving economic and social development. However, it is noteworthy that the flourishing development of digital technology has also brought a series of challenges to social security governance. Compared to traditional social security issues, these problems possess a high degree of complexity and cascading effects. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we must "improve laws, regulations, and policy systems, refine institutional mechanisms, and modernize China’s governance system and governance capacity for the digital economy." China has successively issued policy documents such as the Overall Layout Plan for the Construction of Digital China and the 2025 Key Points for Digital Economy Development, providing policy guarantees for stimulating the vitality of the digital economy, optimizing the digital social environment, and fortifying digital security barriers. We should engage in integrated planning and collaborative promotion to continuously enhance the level of social security governance in the digital era.
Constructing a Precision Identification Mechanism for Social Security Issues
First, we must precisely identify the overall operational characteristics and interactive relations of the economy and society under the new industrial forms and models of the digital economy, laying a cognitive foundation for the systematic governance of social security issues in the digital era. As the core element of digital economic development, data involves complex interest relationships across businesses, organizations, and administrative levels during the processes of rights affirmation and authorization, circulation and transaction, and revenue distribution [1]. Relying solely on traditional models makes it difficult to comprehensively and accurately identify potential problems. Therefore, we must vigorously strengthen the construction of early warning mechanisms for social security issues, fully utilizing advanced technological means to conduct real-time monitoring and precision forecasting of potential risks, analyzing risk transmission mechanisms, and stemming the spread of risks in a timely manner.
Second, we must precisely identify the volatility risks in the development environment of the digital economy. Breakthrough innovations in digital technology, the iterative upgrading of business models, and the intensive introduction of relevant incentive policies often induce a concentrated influx of market investment, leading to volatility risks. This requires coordinating the relationship between an effective market and a proactive government [2]. We must both construct a favorable ecological environment for fair competition in the digital technology market and give play to the government's guiding role in the development of the digital economy.
Finally, we must precisely identify potential problems in the development of the digital economy, such as the widening income gap between groups and regional development imbalances. For economically developed regions, we should advocate for and promote the deep integration of digital technology with traditional industries, creating digital industry clusters and fostering highlands of innovation. For underdeveloped regions, we should accelerate the exploration of characteristic development paths for the digital economy and construct a collaborative linkage mechanism between industrial transfer and emerging economies.
Refining the Social Security Governance System
First, governance subjects must break free from the conceptual shackles of traditional security governance, establish a holistic and systemic perspective, and treat the digital economy as an organic whole, comprehensively considering the connections and interactions between various links and elements. We should establish the philosophy of "prevention first, governance as the priority," and deeply analyze the complex contradictions presented by data elements in the digital economy. By accurately grasping these contradictions, we can formulate targeted prevention strategies in advance, neutralizing risks in their embryonic stage and fortifying the foundation for the sustained and healthy development of the digital economy.
Second, we should strengthen governance mechanisms for cross-departmental synergy. We must refine prevention and control management; once an early warning mechanism is triggered, prevention and control measures should be quickly initiated to contain the impact of the problem within the smallest possible scope, effectively enhancing the capacity to resolve social security issues. We should actively explore and establish a sound institutional system for social security governance. Building upon the existing Cybersecurity Law and Data Security Law, we should further focus on the prevention and control of social security issues and refine relevant regulations. For instance, regarding the leakage of personal information in the digital economy, we should clarify stricter legal responsibilities and punitive measures.
Finally, we should promote the adjustment and perfection of governance systems and policy norms, continuously track the development trends of the digital economy, timely update the institutional system for social security risk prevention and control, and integrate prevention and control requirements into the policy-making process to construct a comprehensive, systematic, and efficient social security governance system.
Accelerating the Construction of a Smart Management Platform for Social Security
We must integrate massive data resources through multiple channels and grasp the state of social operation in real-time. Relying on platforms to automatically collect front-end sensory information, we should construct a closed-loop management mechanism of "perception-analysis-push-response-linkage." This will involve building a smart, full-chain, and full-cycle security management network to address the challenges of the digital era through digital means.
On one hand, we should strengthen the construction of real-time data collection and computing power support systems. Utilizing technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, we can carry out dynamic monitoring covering fields such as digital enterprise operations, digital financial transactions, and online public opinion [3], developing risk prediction models to achieve precision judgment. For example, when abnormal capital flows are detected on a digital financial platform, the early warning mechanism is automatically triggered, pushing risk information to regulatory departments and simultaneously generating a joint disposal plan to respond quickly and neutralize financial risks, effectively maintaining the stability of the financial order.
On the other hand, we should apply "digital twin" technology to perform digital simulations of the physical world and carry out predictive analysis of future trends and risks. Digital twin models can keenly capture early signs of potential risks. Taking supply chain risk as an example: when a model detects that a core supplier's production progress is lagging or an abnormality occurs in the logistics process, it can quickly predict the scope and degree of the impact on the entire supply chain based on massive historical data and risk assessment matrices. Through predictive analysis, the smart management platform can provide policymakers and risk prevention departments with intelligent decision-making bases for buffering strategies and emergency plans, effectively reducing shocks during the operation of the digital economy and building a security barrier for its steady, healthy, and high-quality development.
Better Responding to the Concerns and Expectations of the Masses
We must attend to micro-individual contexts and timely respond to the concerns and expectations of the masses to promote the resolution of social risks in the digital era. Leveraging traditional channels—such as news media and letters and visits [4]—alongside new digital platforms like government websites and "two micros and one client" [5], we can accurately understand public sentiment and scientifically judge and properly resolve contradictions. We should comprehensively consider the interest demands of different groups and provide specialized services for disadvantaged groups. For example, we should give full consideration to the abilities and needs of the elderly regarding smart devices, providing diverse services such as designated personnel assistance through a combination of online and offline methods. We should refine risk communication mechanisms, introduce legal aid, and resolve disputes within the track of the rule of law.
Furthermore, we should persist over the long term to construct a comprehensive guarantee system. We must give play to the social security system's role as a "floor" [6], strengthen the coordination between the minimum living guarantee [7] and other specialized relief systems, and accelerate the improvement of a layered and categorized social assistance system. Through methods such as government procurement of services and the involvement of social organizations, we can ensure that groups facing the "digital divide" receive effective assistance. We should establish protection mechanisms for laborers' rights in the digital era, particularly adapting to the characteristics of new forms of employment. This involves accelerating the improvement of unemployment insurance and social assistance systems, and refining industrial injury insurance for flexible employment. By broadening insurance participation channels, lowering eligibility thresholds, and using digital technology to simplify administrative procedures, we can incorporate laborers in new forms of employment into the social security system, thereby fully protecting their rights and promoting social equity and harmony.
(The author, Wang Hongmei, is a specially invited researcher at the Beijing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era Research Center and a professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics)
Source: Guangming Daily, August 29, 2025, Page 6
Web Editor: Tongxin