TIAL introduces a series of speculative design white papers

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Speculative work helps us imagine institutions that are fit for purpose—whether global or local, technical or political. In a time where our once-confident institutions expose vulnerabilities in coordination, alignment, and efficacy, imagination can reveal unexplored, but still available, options.

Perhaps we foresee that a challenge will become urgent in the near or longer term. Why not start designing the right institution now?

Institutional architecture is not merely a collection of formal rules and legal provisions; it is a craft. Hence, TIAL focuses on what we term ‘speculative’ work to reveal that institutional design is just as much about creating structure as it is about observation, accumulating learning, and iteration.

This is why, we are introducing a series of more in-depth papers on approaches to specific and widely relevant aspects of institutional design. This is an important part of our “speculative” work, meant to help practitioners imagine what is possible and learn about existing approaches. It is also a way for us to scout  potential collaborators for TIAL as we grow. The first white papers are in development and they are on the topics of: 

  • Protecting elections: looking at options for creating new institutions to protect elections from the threat of deep fakes and deliberate attack, with Aleš Čap 
  • Procurement: new institutional forms for public sector procurement, with a particular focus on AI, with Leo Quattrucci
  • Standard-setting: new strategies for setting and building agreement around standards in contexts for which there is no clear agency with the mandate and authority to set standards, with Jed Sundwall
  • Blockchain: looking at lessons from a decade of experiment using blockchain and other technologies to enable new organisational forms, with Isabella Roberts

In our speculative workstream, we actively map out viable opportunities for creating novel institutions capable of effectively governing collective challenges. Additionally, we welcome other perspectives, complementary efforts, and the identification of gaps that could spark collaborations in imagining better institutions.

Get in touch with us to discuss options for speculative design.

See our publications