Universities were built upon openness, collaboration and scientific exchange. Yet as semiconductors, photonics and artificial intelligence become strategic technologies, Europe increasingly faces a difficult question: how open can science remain when knowledge itself becomes infrastructure?
Education
Education shapes the knowledge, skills and institutions that enable societies to adapt, innovate and navigate economic and technological change.
Examinations are among the most trusted institutions of modern society. Yet as technology transforms economies and labour markets, an uncomfortable question emerges: are we still measuring the capabilities future societies will actually need?
Education is often viewed as a pathway to personal opportunity. Yet education also shapes the knowledge, skills and capabilities that determine how societies innovate, adapt and prepare for the future.
Most people use digital technologies every day, yet few fully understand the systems operating behind the screen. Through exhibitions, educational programmes and public engagement initiatives, Tactical Tech helps people explore how algorithms, data and artificial intelligence increasingly shape everyday life.
As digital life increasingly moves through platforms and algorithms, modern libraries are quietly transforming into social infrastructure: public environments where concentration, learning and human presence remain physically possible.
Universities are accelerating their adoption of artificial intelligence. But in that speed, something essential risks being lost. This essay argues for a deliberate pause—not as resistance, but as a condition to preserve depth, judgment and the role of friction in learning.
