The Digital Sovereignty Trap: Avoiding the Return of Silos and a Divided World

Thorsten Jelinek

Jan 2023 · Springer Nature

About this ebook

This book is for policy-makers navigating the digital transformation. Global governance is needed to mitigate the disproportionate risks of artificial intelligence but is in a state of deep crisis. Revisiting the era of telecommunication monopolies, this book argues that today’s return of sovereignty resembles the great reregulation, but of the entire digital economy. Breaking through the previous asymmetrical distribution of technology and institutional power, China threatens the United States’ technology hegemony. The task is to avert from the straitjacket of hyperdigitalization without causing new silos.

About the author

Thorsten Jelinek is a senior fellow at the Taihe Institute, an affiliated scholar at the University of Cambridge’s department of sociology, and a member of the advisory board of the OECD’s trust in business initiative. His research focus is on the intersection between international relations, governance, and policy-related questions concerning digitalization, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. In his current role, he contributed to the United Nations’ High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation and the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the UN Internet Governance Forum. He is also a recurring member of the Think 20. His policy briefs have been considered in T20 communiqués presented to the G20 leaders’ summits. Jelinek was an associate director at the World Economic Forum and held managerial positions in the ICT industry. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Cambridge, an M.Sc. in organizational psychology from the London School of Economics, and a B.Sc. in software engineering and business administration from the Berlin University of Applied Sciences.