Global governance

Research classification (Frascati)
Head of the research group
Keyword
P2P technologies
commons-based peer production
non-Western public administration
global governance
development policy
Overview
The Governance group deals with basic, as well as policy-focused, academic research focusing on the analysis of governance theories and paradigms in the context of modern sociotechnical changes, led especially by the ICT diffusion. The group comprises the ERC Starting Grant ‘Cosmolocalism’, and two large grants,‘Centrinno’ and ‘Smooth’, funded from the EU’s Horizon 2020. The ‘FinEst Twins: Helsinki and Tallinn as Smart and Sustainable Cities’ EU Teaming grant, 2019-26, with €32 million the largest research grant in Estonian history, that commenced in late 2019, originally emerged from this research group.Special focus has been on the following topics:‚ analysis of global paradigms of governance and comparison of Western and non-Western/Asian paradigms and traditions,‚ the impact of technological changes on governance, including the emergence of the concept of smart city and the impact of P2P technologies on production and consumption traditions and governance models‚ alternative perspectives on sustainability, growth, innovation and their metrics generally.In all these fields the group is internationally recognized as a trailblazing think tank. This is best exemplified by the fact that both Prof. Drechsler and Prof. Kostakis are affiliates of Harvard University – at the David Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies and the Berkman Klein Centre for Internet and Society respectively– and the former also at UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, all three usually recognized as the number one institution in their specific field globally. Almost all of the group is also actively contributing (research, outreach activities) to the path-breaking work of the P2P Lab. This focus provides the foundation for RND’s research in many other research groups from e-governance to innovation studies. The group co-founded the international Fab City Foundation in Tallinn (https://fab.city/).