Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI

What should public officials actually ask before an AI data center comes to town? In a new Reboot Democracy piece, Deborah Stine outlines 10 questions about electricity demand, water use, workforce impacts, and community benefit agreements that communities should ask before construction begins. Gulnaz Kordanova examines Kazakhstan's rapid expansion from digital government into sovereign AI infrastructure, warning that gaps in connectivity, devices, and digital literacy could deepen inequality in the AI era. Anita McGahan argues that the most urgent AI-era leadership challenges in government are deeply human ones — psychological safety, real teams, honest feedback, and helping people perform under uncertainty. And Beth Simone Noveck makes the case that universities should redefine success around public purpose and societal impact, not financial metrics alone.

AI data centers are arriving in communities long before most public institutions have figured out how to govern them. Drawing on recent analysis, fieldwork, and an InnovateUS workshop, Deborah Stine examines the questions public officials are now confronting around electricity, water, jobs, infrastructure, public trust, and community impact. She argues that AI data centers are far more than technology projects; they are major public policy decisions that will shape how communities experience the AI economy.

Ahead of a timely conversation around the civic role of the university in an age of democratic uncertainty and rapid technological change, Beth Simone Noveck spoke to the Scotsman about how Scotland's universities are uniquely place to reinvent the purpose of higher education.