The Fluid Society

Everything is Information

New insights. That we live in an information society is no news. What is interesting is that our view of how the physical world around us is working is also changing. Two centuries ago, physicists viewed the universe, based on the laws of Newton and Kepler, as a kind of huge mechanical timepiece, in which planets… Continue reading Everything is Information

Makeable humans

Tinkering with humansThere has been a lot of fuss about the Chinese twins conceived in China with modified DNA with the aim of protercting these babies form HIV infection in the future. Scientist He Jiankui received the full load of criticism even from Chinese scientists.What is the underlying moral problem? Technology is now so far… Continue reading Makeable humans

Software “killing you softly”?

What is the problem with software? The disasters with the Boeing 737 MAX unfortunately show once again the importance of good software in the operating systems of devices and transport systems in particular. With software for these types of important systems, two questions are extremely crucial: 1. Is it clear in all situations who is in… Continue reading Software “killing you softly”?

A borderless world?

Boundaries. A core problem at the Brexit is the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. This conflict symbolizes the transition from the classical to the digital world. From the world where national sovereignty is the dominant structure to the borderless world of the future digital society. Maintaining or drawing borders in an increasingly borderless world costs… Continue reading A borderless world?

Yellow Vests

Or how digitization divides the labour market. Dichotomy. For weeks France was plagued by actions by the “yellow vests”. People who organized themselves through social media and initially protested against higher petrol prices. In the meantime we saw comparable actions in other countries. What happened here? This action is a well-known occurrence in a long series… Continue reading Yellow Vests

e-leaders

The European Commission has noted for years (http://eskills-scale.eu/inv/home/) that Europe has a great shortage of so-called e-leaders. People who both understand the digital world and have the management qualities to guide an organization through a digital transition. The European reports speak of a total pool of approximately 750,000 e-leaders and a shortage of approximately 200,000… Continue reading e-leaders

Robaloney

As long as humanity has developed technology, there is a fascination for the idea that you could make a fake human or robot. Now that it has gradually come to the point that enough intelligent computer power can be put into a waddling doll, with Sophia from Hong Kong as an example, many people are… Continue reading Robaloney

Digital Rule of Law

Digital Rule of Law Conference 2038. In 2038, China organized a major cyber conference with Europe and the US on the establishment of a global digital rule of law. The digitization of society had completely got out of hand and the disruptions in almost every area were so great that there was hardly any normal… Continue reading Digital Rule of Law

TaskForce E-skills final report

At the request of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, I chaired the TaskForce E-Skills for the past year and a half ( https://hagedoorn.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Eindrapport-TF-eSkills-28-febr-2011.pdf.pdf ) The founding of the TaskForce was prompted by a European study that showed that Europe and the Netherlands are increasingly lacking much-needed IT knowledge and skills, the so-called e-skills. Not… Continue reading TaskForce E-skills final report