#113: E-residency Program, SDZ Alliance, China-US Relation, Chartered Cities with Joel Burke

Kia Ora, Nihao and hello! Welcome to the Chiwi Journal Podcast. I’m your host Camellia Yang.

On the show, I interview global citizens who follow a unique path to build a better future and share stories and tips they learned along the way.

Our conversations are focus on cultural observations, technology trends, career development and philosophy.

My guest today is Joel Burke. He is the partner at Tribe AI, MA Candidate at Georgetown’sGeorgetown’s International Business & Policy program. He leads the e-Residency program at the Republic of Estonia and has been a mentor to a startup accelerator focused on defence solutions in the US. He has been to over 50 countries, lived and worked on 3.5 continents and helped with many remote work visa and city-building projects.

We discussed:

• How Joel started his career and showed interest in the intersection between tech and policy?
• A summary of the E-residency program at Estonia that Balaji mentioned @1729.com
• What the advantages for small countries leveraging digitalisation?
• What’s the opportunity for startups in the public service sector?
• Share some other initiatives, e.g. Columbia remote work visa and SDZ Alliance (Ethiopia city-building project)
• Response on the “Cloud-first, Land second” concept of building the future.
• A thought experiment on uploading minds online and downloading on any form of a body.
• With the increasing tense between China and the US, what Joel’s views on current geopolitics based on his experiences?
• China has tremendously invested in Africa’s infrastructure. What local people’s perspective towards China?
• Among all 50 countries Joel travelled and lived in, what’s the most interesting culture shock?
• Top three tips for people who choose to live a nomadic lifestyle and do remote works in the future
• What gets Joel most excited about the future?
• A brief overview of chartered cities

Books and Links Mentioned:

• The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age by James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg
• E-residency Estonia
• SDZ ALLIANCE
• 1729.com
• Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
• The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.

Connect with Joel on LinkedIn

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