Collaborative Research Center for Resilience

Collaborative Research Center for Resilience

We nurture futures that build towards a vibrant democracy and a world where we can all thrive.

Public Infrastructure, Technology and Democracy

City Data Collection and Storage

We investigate how emerging technologies often introduced without democratic debate may further weaken democracy, such as mobile driver’s licenses, digital wallets, and centralized benefits distribution portals. We center sites such as schools and health care.


Digital ID and Wallet Systems

Digital ID systems are quietly and rapidly remaking how identification documents like drivers licenses function in the United States and around the world. Digital ID systems are promoted by corporate vendors and governments as convenient ways to electronically verify identity, age, education, insurance, travel, health, and payment information. Governments are increasingly using Digital ID systems to sign people up for social services, utility assistance, tax refunds, opening bank accounts, buying products online or accessing age-restricted content. In places that have already adopted Digital ID systems, increased surveillance and exclusion from government services have been documented