Research

Explore our collection of articles on the leading megatrends in technology, politics, and society.

Filter: FreedomLab Fellows

2

min

Scaling bitcoin with the lightning network

1

min

Facebook’s strategy for a decentralized future

Will Facebook orchestrate its own disruption?

1

min

Netflix’s Bandersnatch: the beginning of embedded content interfaces

Netflix's interactive film 'Bandersnatch' could set the trend for embedded content interfaces in films and shows.

9

min

Volatility in the Tech Stack

A closer look at the fundamental trajectories and interdependent nature of new technologies

5

min

Open-source software is eating the world

Open-source software is crucial in our daily lives, and recent acquisitions of GitHub and Red Hat highlight its importance.

4

min

From bits to atoms

Will platforms like Uber and Airbnb continue to succeed without physical assets?

4

min

A return to utopian thinking

In the last decade, pragmatic utopian thinking has gained considerable popularity in different domains.

1

min

Facebook’s flirt with crypto and blockchain

Will Big Tech companies like Facebook have a role in the crypto landscape?

5

min

Technical hurdles towards the cryptoworld

Arief Hühn outlines possible solutions to the current limitations of the crypto world.

4

min

Apple’s quest for the disappearing computer

1

min

The selfish ledger

3

min

5

min

When fake becomes the new normal

3

min

The downside of radical tokenization

4

min

Where does content generation stop and technology begin?

How the verticalization of entertainment platforms is shaping the media landscape

Breaking the bottleneck

Can state-led initiatives relying on market mechanisms help us achieve our decarbonization goals?

Are we heading towards post-human intelligence?

Rethinking being human in a more-than-human world

Learning to waste

All manufacturing produces waste, even the clean energy industry. Critical clean energy technologies – EV batteries, solar panels, wind turbine blades – lead to a massive problem with waste management

Are weapons still a sin stock?

Changes in narratives, economic structures and the nature of technology could be altering the status of defense stock.

The Deep Transitions Framework; an elaboration

A theoretical and empirical elaboration on the Deep Transitions Framework, designed to contribute to a just, equitable and healthy planet.

Sticky dependence: Europe’s reliance on Russia

Although Europe wants to decouple from Russia, our countries’ dependence is stickier and more complex than we might have estimated

Is AI still artificial?

Definitions are becoming obsolete as tech and science blur the boundaries between the natural and the artificial

The planet as an emerging category

On living with – not on – the planet.

Geopolitical nonalignment in the 21st century

Escalating tensions in Taiwan and Ukraine are pressuring the world to choose an alignment, yet many nations refuse to choose sides.

Is Texas becoming too self-confident?

Texan rebellion is likely to shake up federal politics in the U.S.