Essays

Pointers on successful e-government

A couple of weeks ago, at the traditional ProjectiveGroup end-of-year offsite in Riga, Florian Marcus) of Proud Engineers gave an interesting presentation on digitalisation in the public sector. Three key points struck me, and they are relevant for the corporate sector as well.

The day the streak died, or lessons in incremental progress

The streak didn’t survive my employer’s end-of-year offsite, as I feared. And yet, the streak absolutely achieved its aim.

What digital economy do we want?

Since “software eats the world,” distinguishing between a digital economy and a non-digital economy is no longer very useful. What characterises Big Tech by now is less their technological prowess, but rather their mastery of business and regulation.

Three themes to build back better our economy

New growth sectors, higher wages and a comprehensive social safety net are the three themes we should focus on to build back better after the pandemic. Taken together, the aim is to transform our economy, triggering higher growth rates, sharing the prosperity that derives from it equitably, and ensuring no one is left behind.

Budget 2021: Usher in a New Economic Paradigm

Budget 2021 needs to needs to ensure the short-term survival of the economy, and more importantly, kickstart the transformation to an economy that fixes the major flaws exposed by the pandemic.

Is the Covid-19 Pandemic the Catalyst for a Great Reset?

The Covid-19 pandemic has put all the structural shortcomings in our economy in sharp relief. At the same time, it has magnified and accelerated underlying trends (like digitalisation and de-globalisation) that render our economy’s structure increasingly unfit for purpose. The pandemic therefore marks the time for a great reset.

The Creative Leviathan: Reassessing the Role of Government in the Economy

Now that the initial shock of the Covid-19 economic crisis is wearing off, thoughts are turning towards “building back better” the economy for the long term. It is a unique opportunity to assess our current economic model. In particular, we should re-evaluate the position of the government in the economy, and leverage all its strengths to build a more vibrant, resilient, sustainable and fair economy.

Does Big Tech Hold One of the Keys to Restarting the Economy?

Technological advances are determined by regulation, existing institutions and ultimately our values. Now more than ever we must actively shape our technology to work for us rather than resignedly accepting it.

APEC 2020: Dealing with the digital economy requires regional cooperation

APEC members have an opportunity to set out an innovative agenda that will make the organisation uniquely relevant for years to come.

The Privacy vs Convenience Fallacy

Two news stories came up this week that, when put together, offer a stark view of the current state of the technology industry and in particular its stance towards privacy.