On The Digital Life podcast this week, we chat about Estonia’s E-Residency program, which encourages entrepreneurs to become virtual residents of the country, so they can have a European company. It’s a really interesting and innovative way to think about citizenship, basically ignoring geography, but leveraging it at the same time. It’s not unusual for countries to sell their citizenship, including the US, but this is slightly different. If innovators and entrepreneurs can go anywhere they want in the world to find the best deal, best benefits, or the like, what does that mean for the future of nation states? Join us as we discuss.

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Republic of Estonia E-Residency

Countries where you can buy citizenship

On The Digital Life podcast this week, we chat with guest Mary Ellen Sparrow, CEO of NextShift Robotics, about collaborative robotics and automation. NextShift focuses on developing robots that work in concert with people on the warehouse floor for e-commerce operations. Unlike other automation systems, the company’s technology works within a warehouse’s existing infrastructure, rather than requiring a massive overhaul and build out. Its robots are designed to work in complex and variable environments. For example, they can avoid obstacles, navigating around objects in their path. Join us as we discuss robotic automation, misconceptions people may have about the relationship between jobs, workers, and robots, and the potential of this technology to transform industry in the near future.

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NextShift Robotics

On The Digital Life podcast this week, we chat about the Human Genome Project Write. Synthetic biologists are building the engineering blueprint for life: a human cell that contains all the DNA it needs to produce more human cells. Such a blueprint could be a significant step towards major medical breakthroughs, including wiping out genetic diseases.

Synthetic biologists build DNA using specialized bio-informatics design software to write the code. In the lab, this DNA code is then chemically synthesized. The software tools for this process, however, are still at their formative stages, and lack the necessary abstraction layer. Synthetic biologists must still work at the most basic level of DNA code—the A,C,G, and Ts—unlike, say computer coders who usually stay several layers above the 0s and 1s.

Some of the other challenges this project will face include creating a legal framework and policy to govern the technology, establishing rules around intellectual property, and even coming to a shared understanding of ethical boundaries and prohibitions across the genomic research community. Join us as we discuss.

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The Human Operating System Gets an Overhaul

On The Digital Life this week, we chat about water scarcity, natural resources, and design.

In Cape Town, South Africa, the current water shortage has reached crisis level. Residents are cutting water usage in every way possible— using water collected from showers to water plants and flush toilets. The authorities warn that Cape Town is just a few months away from having to shut off its taps: “Day Zero”. To prevent this from happening, starting Feb. 1, residents will be required to use no more than 13.2 gallons of drinking water a day. By way of comparison, the average American uses about 100 gallons of water per day.

If climate change is causing extreme weather events, like droughts, to become more common, humanity will have to adjust to using less of that most important resource, water. Design of water conservation products and services, along with technological solutions for obtaining more potable water, like desalination, will become increasingly important. Join us as we discuss.
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Water crisis grips Cape Town, South Africa, after drought stretching years