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 eight billion people — who on average consume several times more than a generation ago.… Continue reading The World in Transition
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 Europe were to reach a similar per-person usage level as the US, the European IT… Continue reading Europe must develop its own IT services
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, which will eventually necessitate new forms of governance for societies. To better understand this transformation,… Continue reading The Fluid Society or How Digitalization Transforms Society
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 free hand with the mission of making the government more efficient. This illustrates that Big… Continue reading Big Tech to govern
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 sketch a vision of a radically different future. 1. The Crumbling of Geopolitical Structures. Western… Continue reading Is digitalization our salvation?
(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 in a balanced or sensible manner, neither with each other nor with the surrounding nature.… Continue reading New World Order: the Fluid Society
