Month: March 2016

Tracking mining trucks & barges

Since the Commonwealth games, Delhi has had an app, PoochhO, that allows the tracking of even nearby autorickshaws. Using GPS of course. We had recommended the implementation of a similar system of electronic tracking of mining trucks and barges to the Goa government and the center.  We had even predicted that miners would welcome the additonal control over their ore. …

The AI case for a Universal Basic Income

Scott Santens warns that the recent victory of Google’s Deep Mind in the game of Go portends a very rapid automation of an overwhelming majority of jobs. For instance, “Amelia is just one AI out there currently being beta-tested in companies right now. Created by IPsoft over the past 16 years, she’s learned how to perform the work of call center employees. …

Is Kazakhstan planning a UBI

The Kazakhstan government is banning smartphones within the government. The reason is the continuing leak of government information. Among the leaks is a presidential decree to the government ordering the ministers to analyze possibilities of introducing unconditional basic income. Unfortunately, there isn’t much more information available online in english. Kazakhstan set up the Natural Fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2000 from …

Nauru’s Citizen’s Dividend

The tiny pacific island of Nauru is a cautionary tale for mineral royalties being saved in a Permanent Fund and paying out a Citizen’s Dividend. The island was covered by guano, a form of phosphate, a fertilizer. The royalties from phosphate mining resulted in Nauru having the highest per capita income in the world. The phosphate royalties were paid into the Nauru …

Cognitive Capitalism, Silicon Valley & Basic Income

Evgeny Morozov discusses the recent interest in Silicon Valley with Universal Basic Income. He takes a cognitive capitalism frame and concludes that Silicon Valley is also part of the problem. On the other hand, Scott Santens shows how jobs will disappear worldwide. “The White House, in a stunning report to Congress this week, put the probability at 83 percent that …