An excerpt from Charles Ikem’s contribution to our Radical Visions of Future Government collection.

Life After The State imagines a prosperous digital future without the government as we know it. It is 2030, and new digital developments have created a very different set of power relations in government, society and the wider economy. Citizen participation has been reinvigorated, typical red tape and bureaucracy removed, and government re-imagined as a digital ideology. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), distributed ledgers and advanced cryptography have allowed citizens and communities to put themselves at the heart of government and decision-making. By helping people overcome barriers such as geography, finance, complexity and timing, these technologies enable citizens to run their own democracy in their local areas. Welcome to the new world of DIYs. DIY democracy, DIY services, DIY government.

Name: Jason

Born: Redditch, UK

Date: 20/03/2030

On a normal day, in a normal town, a child with a normal name is born. But Jason’s life will look anything but normal compared even with those born a decade earlier.

Jason’s birth is overseen by a local doctor and midwife and supported by an AI assistant selected by Jason’s parents from a range of commercial, public and not-for-profit options. Within minutes, Jason’s birth is registered, via a personal e-ID, onto a decentralised data infrastructure designed to facilitate ownership, security and privacy. Throughout his life, Jason will be accompanied by this randomly generated 10-digit number. This unique identifier links to all of his core personal and biometric data, enabling him simple and secure access to key public services and civic duties.

As Jason approaches school age, his parents begin the search for the education best tailored to his preferences, abilities and ways of learning. But Jason’s parents are not restricted to the four or five schools closest to where they live: e-residency initiatives and improved technology have allowed virtual enrolment and learning across borders. His parents compare schools in cities as disperse as Lima, Nairobi and Seoul, each rated by how well they meet Jason’s needs. They eventually select a school in Helsinki, where Jason also completes his university education – all without needing to physically leave Redditch.

The community’s social smart contract

As an adult, Jason lives in an urban community where decisions are debated and decided upon locally using participation technology, before being formalised by smart contracts.

When Jason parks his car in a restricted area without the correct permit, a sensor detects the infringement of one of the conditions of a social smart contract Jason signed with his community when they collectively agreed local parking restrictions. In the past, a fine would have been issued by the local authority, but these days the process is automated.

Jason automatically makes a payment directly to others in his community – the ones personally inconvenienced by Jason’s actions and with whom he broke a form of social contract.

The local community also has a shared agreement about what should happen to proceeds from parking fines. In Jason’s case, the money goes towards funding non-car based modes of transport, an initiative the community felt was important to support ongoing obligations to reduce carbon emissions.

Participatory digital democracy

Jason’s life involves a lot of voting, but on a far wider range of purposes than just electing representatives. Communities now make many more decisions collectively: setting local rules, deciding how local budgets will be spent, and other key decisions affecting the area. Occasionally, local referendums are held, though communities have a strong preference for deliberative processes, and there are strict criteria on which issues can be put to referendums.

To vote, Jason verifies his identify through a decentralised system built to require the minimum amount of data needed to prove he is who he says he is. This can either be done through the use of digital attributes, or through a secure biometric scan: so simple and fitting so seamlessly into Jason’s online civic participation that he barely notices he’s doing it.

Much of Jason’s civic participation happens at a local level, but citizens have agreed some issues must be tackled internationally. One such issue is tax evasion.

All tax records, filing and payments are done online, with automated calculations for bills and rebates: the same process for companies and individuals. An AI tool is used to detect where tax evasion may be happening, and where the tool’s various checks and criteria are satisfied, charges are brought. A jury of citizens is selected to preside over the trial remotely, while information and footage can be viewed by other citizens online in real time. The jury’s role hasn’t changed much, except they all participate remotely now.

Citizens also informed the tax evasion laws and how they should be interpreted, collectively deciding that not only would companies need to comply with the letter of the law, but would also be judged by jurors on whether they had complied with the spirit of the law, too. When a verdict is passed, any fines are paid automatically, and are distributed according to where and who suffered the most as a result of the evasion.

You can follow Charles Ikem on twitter @CharlyIkem

Explore a selection of the other contributions as part of our Visions of Government 2030 feature.