Future policy for a future internet

Apply for our 2021 policy fellowship programme and help us explore what comes next

Hi, it's Chris from the Tony Blair Institute. Today’s edition is a little different — we’re looking for superstar thinkers to join our 2021 tech policy fellowship programme. You propose an original piece of analysis that will generate new insights for policymakers, we’ll help you develop it and provide a stipend to support your work. Read on to find out more.

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👋 New to Progress? Welcome — it’s great to have you with us.

If you’ve been following us for a while then you’ll know a big theme in our work is how technology has changed the environment that policymakers operate in — and how important it is to engage constructively with the issues this raises so that progress benefits everyone.

In our last post we talked about some of the different forces that will shape the world and its institutions in the years ahead. One of the big areas of uncertainty is what will happen as more and more of what we do moves online, and as new infrastructure, technologies and protocols change what is possible at massive scale and / or without central coordination.

The implications of some of these shifts could be profound, but they are often neglected in mainstream policy debates. Going deep on the opportunities and challenges ahead as the internet enters its next big era is therefore the theme of our 2021 tech policy fellowship programme.

Whether you’re working in tech, working in policy or are doing something else entirely but still following the future of the internet closely — if you have an idea for an original piece of analysis in this area that will push the frontiers of the global policy debate then we’d love to hear from you.

Participants on the programme will work with us to develop their idea, conduct relevant research and policy analysis, and produce a substantive working paper with recommendations for policymakers.

We expect the time commitment to be 2+ days per month over a six-month period. We’ll provide office hours with our team to help with problem solving, a platform for publishing completed papers, and a £3,000 stipend to support your work.

You can find more details in the Programme FAQs.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• How could smart contracts be used to help solve difficult international coordination problems like climate action or nuclear disarmament?

• How could ubiquitous digital credentials improve how licensed markets work or make it easier for people to access new economic opportunities?

• What could happen to nations’ fiscal and monetary policy if decentralised finance displaces traditional financial services / intermediaries?

• How might new consensus protocols and voting technologies improve how societies are governed and increase participation?

• What new possibilities could the spatial web open up for reconfiguring our cities, and what policy reforms will be required to realise them?

• How could semantic web technologies pave the way for radical, citizen-centric reforms of public administration and public service delivery?

• How can federated learning and edge computing accelerate beneficial uses of artificial intelligence, and what new frameworks are needed to govern them?

Applications are open now and close at 23:59 GMT on Monday 15 March 2021.