Today, a massive chunk of our daily lives are digital: governments operate under contracts with foreign big tech companies, huge data centers occupy the periphery of cities and use large amounts of energy, and much of Europe's hardware supply is highly reliant on monopolized sources - 60% is estimated to come from Taiwan alone.
With the ascent of AI in society, digital footprints are set to become even more significant. This will pose challenges environmentally, socially, and ethically. The workshop invited attendees to read two radical but plausible future pathways and devise an alternative scenario in small groups. There were key elements to consider:
- Are trade blocks bipolar (for example, only the US and China) or multipolar?
- Is the European IT sector nonexistent (when businesses sprout up, they are acquired by big tech) or existent (active companies such as Ericsson or Nokia)?
- Does hardware make its way to Europe (for example, via Taiwan), or is there no supply (for example, due to a trade disruption due to an environmental emergency in Taiwan)?
- Do big tech or local organizations build and maintain IT services in Europe? To the government, for example.
- Is the economic policy in Europe one of growth and capitalism or post-growth (thereby curbing the growth of data centers, for example)?
- Is the dominant value model in the IT sector for-profit and shareholder-driven or ecological and social?
The duo plan to publish their research in the future, sketching scenarios for the future based on the above points.