Introduction. This article is a chapter and update from the book The Digital Challenge for Europe (2021) and originally appeared in the book De Vloeibare Samenleving (2017). The digitalization of society is driving massive changes in the way people and organizations live and operate,...

This article was published on 2 April 2025 in i-Bestuur as an opinion piece: https://ibestuur.nl/artikel/kan-europa-overleven-zonder-eigen-big-tech/ If Europe wants to survive economically in the digital age, it must develop its own large international Big Tech companies and a European digital ecosystem. Simplifying the...

The attached article was published on February 28, 2025, in the magazine i-Bestuur as a so-called Podium article. https://ibestuur.nl/artikel/europa-heeft-dringend-een-digitale-raad-nodig/ Europe Urgently Needs a Digital Council The intense debate surrounding the digital era reveals a paradigm shift of unprecedented proportions, in which Europe...

Introduction. The world stands at a tipping point. From geopolitical tensions to climate change, from the depletion of natural resources to the loss of biodiversity, the challenges are immense. The consequences – including growing migration flows, social unrest, and economic...

Below, GPT-4o offers a critical review of the concept of the Fluid Society, as well as several blogs on the website The Future of Our Digital Society: Reflections on The Fluid Society In a world where digitalization is no longer...

In the United States, a number of IT billionaires are set to join Trump’s administration. Besides Elon Musk, Peter Thiel (PayPal, Facebook) and Ramaswamy (IT billionaire) will also be stepping in. Their role is intriguing: they are being given a...

No one can do without digital tools anymore. Life in today’s society has become impossible without them. Whether you use your smartphone to send a message, gather information, take a photo, or join a meeting: of the more than eight...

This article is an update of the article with the same title from 21 October 2019. Introduction. The world is rapidly digitalising, and as a result, it is increasingly being controlled—perhaps even dominated—by digital systems, backed by parties that develop,...

Image created using ChatGPT and DALL-E, AI technologies by OpenAI. The world is undergoing three profound transformations: shifting geopolitical structures, an escalating climate crisis, and a digital revolution. Each of these changes puts existing systems under pressure – together, they...

Democracies are failing. What should you do as citizen?

(the picture is generated with DALL-E 2023) Conflicts are on the rise. The world is descending into increasing chaos. It is becoming increasingly clear that humanity, with its current way of operating or governing, is not capable of living together...

It is needless to say that developments in the world are increasingly determined by digital progress. This encompasses a wide range of different aspects, from rapid developments in digital services and products to the significant influence of social media on...

With a group of four people: Joost van Iersel (former member of Dutch Parliament for the CDA; Senior Advisor at the European Policy Centre), Willem Korteweg (former CIO, former Director of the Leading Edge Forum), Paul Timmers (former Director at...

At the moment there is quite some discussion about the pros and cons of AI: Artificial Intelligence. Recently, Microsoft bought ChatGPT an AI system that generates a detailed and reasoned answer based on questions, worded in such a way that...

There is no denying that the world is currently facing a dramatic situation..We are living in a consumer society that has outgrown its capacity, As a result our natural environment is gradually collapsing.So much so that numerous scientists in the...

Digital networks. Digital networks are expanding around the world at an unprecedented rate. Every family, association, institute, government, organisation or company creates digital networks in order to communicate, work, exchange information and do business with each other worldwide. Networks of...