The dark underbelly of the chrome age

As we enter the new decade, it is critical that nations and communities be able to realise the transformative potential of emerging technologies, in a way that balances short-term growth and long-term consequence. The proliferation of emerging technologies will create new power asymmetries. From the virtual pathways along which data flows, and the physical infrastructure upon which the internet functions, down to the very minerals that go into our devices, patterns of power undergird them all. The 2020s will be marked by the struggle of communities and nations to navigate these dynamics, and even as a handful of powers project themselves as “world leaders,” many see these technologies as an opportunity for smaller economies to leapfrog to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Read more.