Blog – English – The Fluid Society

Time, Information and the Fluid Society

Without processes there is no time. We often speak of “the turbulent times we live in” as if time itself were a container in which events unfold. That image is misleading — especially in a world that is becoming increasingly digital and...

The World in Transition

We are living in a time when everything seems to change at once. Geopolitical power shifts, the overexploitation of our planet, climate change and loss of biodiversity all overlap. Since World War II, the world’s population has quadrupled to around...

Europe must develop its own IT services

This article has been published on 20 August 2025 in iBestuur Introduction. Europe currently accounts for about a quarter of Big Tech’s global revenue. The United States, with a smaller population, uses significantly more Big Tech services per capita. If...

A Minister for Digitalisation in the Next Dutch Cabinet

The Taskforce-Digital-Sovereign-Europe regularly publishes articles on Europe’s digital sovereignty. The following article was recently published in the Dutch journal iBestuur (https://ibestuur.nl/artikel/pleidooi-voor-minister-van-digitalisering-in-nieuw-kabinet/) With new elections and the formation of a new cabinet on the horizon, the political spotlight is once again...

The United States of Europe

A future vision for a strong, cooperative continent The problem with superpowers. Today’s world order is being held hostage by three superpowers: the United States, Russia, and China. Each seems to believe the globe can be neatly divided into spheres...

The Fluid Society or How Digitalization Transforms Society

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,...

Can Europe Survive Without Its Own Big Tech?

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...

Europe Urgently needs a Digital Council

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...

Superpowers: Obstacles or Keys to a Stable Future?

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...

GPT-4o about “The Fluid Society”

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...

Big Tech to govern

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...

Who controls the world with AI?

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...

The Digital Black Hole

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,...

Is digitalization our salvation?

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...

Democracy is Broken. What Now?

Democracies are failing. What should you do as citizen?

New World Order: the Fluid Society

(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...

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