Compass: Facilitating role of government and technology
CORPORATE LIFT The local government locally facilitates the international companies that pull the strings globally. It guarantees regulations that allow the economic players to continue their profitable but ecologically sustainable activities. Huge commercial databases containing resident profiles have now replaced the population register. Traffic in the city is controlled by the Artificial Intelligence of private technological service provider SLIM (urban living intelligent mobile) and the related road infrastructure has also become the responsibility of the corporates, which control an increasingly larger part of the public space as a result. Gradually, the conscious choice has been made to minimize the government’s role to offer the corporates room for their ecological measures, thus decreasing the number of jobs for civil servants considerably. Technological progress is also at the basis of the possibilities for sustainable production, distribution, and consumption. The fourth industrial revolution has become a sustainable story in which the corporates achieved economies of scale, but could also work increasingly locally. The algorithms ensuring this are deployed for the personalization of goods and services as well as the organization of public life and the public space. In Flanders, the servers supporting this method can largely be found in Ghent. Supporting their operation ensures local employment. The development and implementation of new applications for analysis and control are also a Ghentian affair.
Technologische vooruitgang ligt mee aan de basis van de mogelijkheden voor duurzame productie, distributie en consumptie. De vierde industriële revolutie werd een duurzaam verhaal waarin de giganten weliswaar schaalvoordeel halen, maar ook steeds meer lokaal gericht konden gaan werken. De algoritmes die hiervoor zorgen, worden ingezet voor de personalisatie van goederen en diensten en voor de organisatie van het publieke leven en de publieke ruimte. De servers die deze werkwijze ondersteunen zijn voor Vlaanderen grotendeels in Gent te vinden. De ondersteuning van hun werking zorgt voor lokale tewerkstelling. De ontwikkeling en implementatie van nieuwe toepassingen voor analyse en sturing, is eveneens een Gentse aangelegenheid.
CLIMATE CASCADE The Ghentian government gives the greatest possible elbow room for community initiatives and individual entrepreneurship. The democracy has weakened considerably, because the government can guarantee neither social care for the relatively large group of poor people, nor relief for damages suffered in violent weather. The Europe of the regions could not enforce European social policy, because it was not financeable.
The most interesting recent innovations are those that enable various generations and standards of technology to work together. Such applications offer guidance within an eclectic whole of interconnected technologies. Technology is an important tool for micro-entrepreneurs and micro-taskers. Consumer electronics and services come from automated factories in Asia and the US. Despite the recession, personal devices and networked organizations are still the norm.
LOCAL SENTRY Local governments are strongly intertwined with local life. National and European governments work with tight budgets. They oversee the definition of a suitable course of life. This makes it easier for people to make career- and family- related choices. They constantly interact with extensive digital government services. The government guarantees social security - hardly ever through benefits, but by providing shelter places for those who would otherwise fall by the wayside. The infrastructure is provided by the government, but services are entirely in the hands of female volunteers from the local community. Only those who have a higher civilian credit balance are eligible for government jobs.
Innovation is at the service of the status quo - with specific focus on applications to make the local economy work efficiently. The government cooperates with local IT companies on persevered digital monitoring and the certification of citizens. School children are also followed. In the field of education, digital content and delivery systems throughout Belgium offer the same program. Not only do machines follow the comings and goings of all citizens, they also make this information accessible to everyone 100%.
ECLECTIC CURRENT Technology is transparent and open source and is put at the service of livability and humanity. It is developed in consultation with the large players that have opened their source codes for over 10 years now. Security issues are a concern from the past: technological systems are designed for trust rather than security.
Local governments have great autonomy. Like other organizations, they work together in federations with other governments to provide a solid foundation for the transformation that has occurred over the past 20 years. Direct democracy supports an engaged autonomous local government. Autonomous digital services for domain-related consultation and debate make old-fashioned forms of representation superfluous. Strong governments guarantee geo-political negotiations and take measures for a well-functioning local economy in their region. There are online cap & trade auctions for all basic materials and natural resources. The government imposes a basic income as well as a maximum income. Price regulation forces prices to be directly proportional to cost. All economic players need to negotiate with the government on the measure of profit for reinvestment.
