Topics
Explore our research and analysis across the key themes shaping the governance of the global digital economy — from AI governance and data privacy to digital currencies and climate tech.
AI Governance
The governance of artificial intelligence presents one of the defining policy challenges of our era. As AI systems are deployed across industries — from healthc...
Data Privacy
Data privacy governance sits at the centre of the digital economy's most contested terrain. As data flows become the lifeblood of economic activity — powering A...
Cross-Border Regulation
The digital economy operates globally, but regulation remains stubbornly national. This mismatch creates governance gaps, regulatory arbitrage, and coordination...
Digital Currencies
Central bank digital currencies, stablecoins, and cryptocurrency represent a fundamental transformation of monetary systems. With 134 countries exploring CBDCs ...
Fintech
Financial technology is restructuring the global financial system — from real-time payment rails and digital lending platforms to robo-advisors and embedded fin...
Financial Inclusion
An estimated 1.4 billion adults remain unbanked globally, while digital public infrastructure and mobile money platforms are demonstrating that technology can c...
Digital Trade
Digital trade — encompassing cross-border e-commerce, data flows, and digitally delivered services — is reshaping global economic geography. GDEF analyses the e...
Blockchain
Distributed ledger technology continues to evolve beyond its cryptocurrency origins into enterprise applications spanning supply chain management, digital ident...
Quantum Computing
Quantum computing threatens to break the cryptographic foundations underpinning $400 trillion in global financial infrastructure — while simultaneously promisin...
Digital Infrastructure
Digital infrastructure — from submarine cables and data centres to satellite internet and 5G networks — forms the physical foundation of the digital economy. GD...
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is a classic public goods problem — individually rational security investment produces systemically inadequate protection. With cybercrime costs r...
Platform Governance
Digital platforms have become the dominant organisational form of the internet economy, creating unprecedented concentrations of market power, data, and influen...
Climate Tech
The intersection of digital technology and climate action presents both opportunity and paradox. While digital tools enable emissions monitoring, smart grid man...
Digital Identity
Digital identity systems are foundational infrastructure for the digital economy — enabling financial inclusion, e-government services, and trusted online inter...