Hello, I'm Katja. I'm a writer, researcher and frequent commentator on topics at the nexus of geopolitics, geoeconomics and emerging technologies, with a particular focus on how new innovation might rewire our democracies, economies and global order.
This is my personal website and blog where I collect some of my own writing and ideas.
About me
Katja Bego is a writer and policy expert on the geopolitics and geoeconomics of emerging technology. She is currently writing a book on the weaponisation of undersea communications cables, which will be published by Polity in 2025.
She also currently leads the emerging technology and foresight team at the ICO, the UK’s data protection regulator. She was formerly a principal researcher and data scientist in Nesta’s technology futures team, where she led the organisation’s work on the future of the internet and the (geo)politics of innovation. She was also the principal investigator of the European Commission-funded NGI Forward project, which supported the Commission in setting the strategy and policy agenda of the Next Generation Internet initiative, the EU’s ambitious flagship programme which seeks to build a more democratic, inclusive and resilient future internet by 2030.
She regularly comments on topics relating to emerging technology, geopolitics and European strategic autonomy in outlets such as Wired, BBC, the Financial Times and the Guardian. Before joining Nesta, Katja worked as a data scientist in the private sector and as a researcher at the MIT Media Lab. She holds a degree in economics and political science from Wellesley College in the US, and a Master’s degree in the History of War from King’s College London.
Writing
Finding CTRL Book
Finding CTRL (April 2019) is both a physical and online book, which brings together radical, positive visions about the future of the internet from over fifteen countries. The compendium features contributions by luminaries such as Shoshana Zuboff, Saskia Sassen, Jimmy Wales and Toomas Hendrik Ilves, as well as art works, films short stories and essays by a range of very exciting emerging and established voices. I co-curated (with Amelia Tait and Caroline Back) and wrote the foreword, interactive timeline, and several other parts of this collection.
The book has had over 400,000 readers to date, and was featured in the FT, on the BBC Today Programme and in several other UK and international publications.
Blogs, pieces and reports
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“FEPS European Strategic Autonomy brief: Building a resilient and sustainable future internet”, Policy brief, February 2023
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“Towards Public Digital Infrastructure: a proposed governance model” White paper, April 2022
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“The Case for Public Digital Infrastructure” Chapter in: Building a European Digital Public Space, iRights Media, (October 2021) [Bookmate]
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A vision for the future internet: a roadmap for 2030 (report, September 2020) [Nesta; mirror]:
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The Great Unwinding: charting post-COVID futures for the internet (longread, May 2020): [Nesta; mirror]
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‘Deepfake’ videos get weaponised (blog, December 2018) [Nesta; mirror]
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Ten challenges for the internet (October 2018) [Nesta; mirror]
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The year the internet goes green (blog, December 2017) [Nesta; mirror]
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Only 9% of GE2017 contenders have a STEM degree: why this is a problem (data blog, May 2017) [Nesta; mirror]
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The end of the web: get ready for the splinternet (longread, February 2017) [Long+Short magazine; syndicated on TheNextWeb; mirror]
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When will we finally see another woman win a Nobel Prize in economics? (blog, October 2016) [Nesta; mirror]
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Pokémon Go and the marketing agencies of the augmented world (blog, July 2016) [Nesta; mirror]
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Who rules the internet? Getting under the skin of one of today’s trickiest cross-border policy questions (blog, February 2016) [Nesta; mirror]
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What happened to Ghost Boat? Crowdsourcing the public to find a missing refugee ship (blog, December 2015) [Nesta; mirror]
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Crawling the Dark Web: the economics of online drug markets (blog, October 2015) [Nesta; mirror]
Media + public speaking
I regularly comment on topics related to the (geo)political and social impact of emerging technologies. I’ve appeared on the BBC Today Programme and the BBC News, and my work has been featured in publications such as the Financial Times, the Guardian, Wired, NRC, the New Statesman and Politico.
I also frequently speak at conferences and take part in panel discussions and roundtables, also in a personal capacity.
I am available to be contacted about providing commentary, speaking at events, or other opportunities.
