Digital Infrastructure
Digital infrastructure — from submarine cables and data centres to satellite internet and 5G networks — forms the physical foundation of the digital economy. GDEF analyses the governance challenges of this critical infrastructure, including concentration risks in cloud computing, the geopolitics of undersea cables, and how infrastructure investment decisions shape digital inclusion and economic competitiveness.
Insights on Digital Infrastructure
10 publications exploring this topic.
Space Economy and Satellite Internet Governance
LEO mega-constellations have quadrupled active satellites since 2020. This report analyses orbital congestion, spectrum allocation, and connectivity equity through commons economics and game theory.
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Quantum Computing and the Post-Quantum Cryptographic Transition
The post-quantum cryptographic transition is not primarily a technical challenge but an institutional coordination game — and the current equilibrium of delay is systemically dangerous.
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AI Compute and the Stackelberg Structure of Semiconductor Supply Chains
Advanced semiconductor fabrication exhibits extreme geographic concentration — the top 3 facilities produce 92% of sub-5nm chips. We model this as a Stackelberg game to quantify systemic fragility.
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Cybersecurity Collective Action and Critical Infrastructure Protection
With cybercrime costs reaching $10.5 trillion annually, cybersecurity exhibits classic public goods characteristics with free-rider problems that demand institutional solutions.
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Digital Public Infrastructure: The Economic Multiplier Effect Across Emerging Markets
Analysis of real-time payment systems (UPI, Pix, M-Pesa) reveals that digital public infrastructure acts as an economic multiplier far exceeding traditional infrastructure investment returns.
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Supply Chain Resilience and Digital Twins
How digital twin technology and blockchain-based provenance systems can address the information asymmetries and coordination failures underlying supply chain fragility.
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Climate Tech and the Green Digital Transition
Digital infrastructure consumes 1.5–2% of global electricity and rising fast. This report analyses the tension between digital transformation and decarbonisation through externality theory.
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Smart Cities and Urban Digital Infrastructure
Comparative analysis of Singapore, Barcelona, and Seoul smart city models reveals fundamental trade-offs between operational efficiency, privacy, and democratic governance.
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Industrial Policy and the Semiconductor Sovereignty Subsidy Race
CHIPS Act, EU Chips Act, and Asian subsidy programmes analysed as a multi-player Prisoner's Dilemma — with $380 billion in fiscal commitments and growing overcapacity risk.
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Ageing Societies and Digital Inclusion Policy
The demographic digital divide costs OECD economies an estimated $1.5 trillion annually. This report analyses digital exclusion of older adults as a market failure requiring policy intervention.
Read analysisTechnology & Transformation
Investigating the systemic implications of emerging technologies — including artificial intelligence, distributed ledger systems, and quantum computing — for industrial competitiveness, workforce transformation, and responsible innovation governance.
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