On Technology & Environment

As the EU leaders discuss plans for recovery post-corona, the idea of an EU Green recovery is gaining ground. But is it realistic, given the need for both speed and transparency in the months ahead?

Will AI take my job? This question continues to be the focus of countless opinion columns and academic papers. With good reason. Concerns about the power of AI are growing globally. A recent survey from market research multinational, Ipsos, found that 52% of respondents feel nervous about AI products and services, a rise of 13% since … Read More

How far should allies cooperate in the brave new world of the digital? This question has reached uncomfortable levels of significance since the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces earlier this year. When Trump was in power in the US and Big Tech enjoyed unfettered access to the digital world and all its data, phrases … Read More

As the EU leaders discuss plans for recovery post-corona, the idea of an EU Green recovery is gaining ground. But is it realistic, given the need for both speed and transparency in the months ahead?

Tey El-Rjula was born in Kuwait but lost his birth certificate at the age of 5 during the Gulf War. He later spent two years in a refugee camp in the Netherlands – without identity papers or a bank account. But he did have a smart phone and access to the internet. With this he … Read More

Algorithms are as biased as the human beings who create them. So how do we ensure that algorithms don’t simply amplify the biases already inherent in our societies and further entrench the human tendency to allow the past to shape the future? What does socially sustainable AI look like and will it push us to … Read More

Bitcoin and other digital currencies are gaining ground but how best to regulate the borderless domains of what some now call the internet of money and what will this mean for the future of banking and finance?

As the EU leaders discuss plans for recovery post-corona, the idea of an EU Green recovery is gaining ground. But is it realistic, given the need for both speed and transparency in the months ahead?

What is hybrid intelligence? Can bots learn empathy and is technology the new religion? These and similar questions were all up for discussion at the Brave New World Conference in Leiden recently. Philosophers and science fiction writers have long grappled with questions of man and machine. But technological advances combined with the climate crisis have … Read More

As localism gains ground in a world increasingly concerned about climate change, community currencies are on the rise too. But is the exchange of time rather than money the answer to strong local communities?

Trust and transparency are key features of Estonia’s e-government system. But is digitization the key to happiness in this small Baltic state? The answer may surprise you.

A rhino is killed every 8 hours in South Africa – the nation that is home to three quarters of the world’s rhino population and 85% of all rhinos on the African continent. The battle to save South Africa’s rhino population has taken on epic proportions in the last decade. Following a sudden spike in … Read More

Trees are the ancient guardians of the natural world. Richard Powers believes they will survive us in spite of climate change. But can they help save us?

‘The purpose of the city is human flourishing’, so wrote Aristotle more than a millennium ago. Indeed the UN predicts that two thirds of the global population will live in cities by 2050. But what is the future of cities? I recently investigated the 100 Resilient Cities initiative – a global project involving over 150 million dollars of funding by the Rockefeller Foundation.

What does a democratic technological universe look like? And can it compete with the digital authoritarianism promoted by China? These are key questions for democracies in an increasingly polarised world.

As the coronavirus spreads, so information and disinformation about its causes, casualties and prognosis have spread with it. One epidemiologist has suggested fake news about the virus is just as contagious as the virus itself. Although false or misinformation has been with us for centuries, it was only in the last decade that the term … Read More

Does the corona pandemic present us with an opportunity to rethink our approach to what we eat and where we get our food? Closed borders and enforced lockdowns have, unintentionally, reduced carbon footprints and shortened supply chains. Sustainable approaches to food production and consumption have inadvertently become the default option. In countries like France where … Read More

Satellite imaging technology is being used to map the earth’s surface including the oceans. Teams of scientists like the Coraladies are developing products that can help save our seas.

Human intelligence, that much vaunted, but still imperfectly understood phenomenon is the starting point for artificial intelligence.  AI is the simulation of human intelligence in machines. What does intelligence in a machine look like?  Experts now speak of strong and weak AI. But all AI is dependent on data and, like other high quality raw … Read More