Across the world governments worry that national sovereignty is at risk in the digital age. They are right. Sovereignty currently gets undermined by a combination of rising international tensions, disruptive digital transformation throughout economy and society, and explosive growth of cybersecurity incidents.

10 May 2020: Patryk Pawlak, Eneken Tiik and Mika Kerttunen in Cyber Conflict Uncoded present a set of interesting graphs on the rise of cyber conflict between states, the types of incidents or attacks, and the geographic origins. They also discuss how to deal in the world of diplomacy with such cyber conflicts and whether not only cyber-diplomacy (such as in the UN GGE and perhaps also the UN OEWG) but also combinations with mainstream diplomacy could contribute to the peaceful settlement of conflict. The verdict is out. They conclude their article with a reflection on the role of the EU with its Cyber Diplomacy Toobox and extensive experience in mainstream diplomacy.

At iivii we set out to make sense of digital transformations. To work with you in your policy-or decision-making and in strategy development. To create value that lasts, that is sustainable.

It is an open door that digital technologies are transforming and even disrupting the way we live, work, and for some even love. It is less obvious how we best deal with 'digital' when we are a public policymaker, when we run a company, when we deliver a general interest service such as health or education.

Digital has also disrupted the neat boxes in which we thought governments, business and academia could be organised. That disruption has unleashed tremendous creativity and energy. We are encouraged by the huge value we get from this change. We enjoy it each and every day. In these times of COVID-19 'digital' has even become for many the lifeline, the rescue from the perils of social isolation.

We are also concerned, however: think of the sovereignty gap that has opened up now that cyber-attacks undermine critical infrastructure. Think of digital business models that have led to surveillance capitalism. Think of the struggles to get our mind around interdisciplinarity.

Here you find papers, insights, readings, events, and more. And if you are interested to go deeper, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

There will be no global #6G unless we resolve #sovereignty concerns in #5G governance. Governments have underestimated the importance of technology governance and will look to reassert control over key technologies. If future technologies are to be based on global standards, and not become geographically fragmented, industry and technology communities need to urgently address this challenge, as I argue in a comment article in Nature Electronics

Published in Nature Electronics, volume 3, pages10–12(2020)