Welcome to the BlockScience Quarterly Newsletter – Q1 2025 Edition!
As we kick off spring, the energy from our community and collaborators is already setting the tone for an ambitious and impactful 2025. This quarter, our teams have been on the ground across the U.S., sharing our mission and knowledge with organizations and institutions at the United Nations, Funding the Commons, ETH Denver, Bioneers, and SXSW.
From panel discussions on the future of open-source AI infrastructure to gatherings that explore the relationship between digital systems and ecological regeneration, our contributions continue to underscore BlockScience’s mission:
In this edition, we’re reflecting on key insights from the field, revisiting foundational systems engineering frameworks, and sharing what’s on the horizon...
BLOCKSCIENCE AT THE UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK CITY
Digital Innovation for Global Challenges
The Global Challenges Action Innovation Partnership (GloCha) hosted a series of events at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in February, focusing on empowering youth and communities to tackle global challenges through innovation and collaboration. GloCha introduced key initiatives such as the discussion of creating a Global Challenges Action Day and the Data and Digital Innovation Consortium aiming to garner policy, funding support, and allyship for building and maintaining digital public infrastructure to enable action for social and environmental impact.
Dr. Michael Zargham and Jessica Zartler delivered insightful presentations on the role of emerging and open source technologies in addressing global challenges. Their talks emphasized the importance of systemic solutions, balancing the need to maintain diversity of expression and heterogeneity at the local level while enabling scaling.
For those interested in viewing their presentations, the recordings are available on UN Web TV:
Day 1 - Michael Zargham
Day 1 - Jessica Zartler
Day 2 - Jessica Zartler
Day 2 - Michael Zargham
These sessions provide valuable insights into the integration of technology and partnerships in driving sustainable development.
SXSW
BlockScience participated in conversations at and around SXSW in March in Austin, Texas, contributing to a growing dialogue about the societal responsibilities tied to artificial intelligence and digital public infrastructure.
Chief Engineer Michael Zargham joined thought leaders from Siemens, MongoDB, and OpenTeams on a panel moderated by BlockScience Advisor Gregory Johnson. The session centered on the critical role of open source in AI development and the potential risks of capture and privatization in national defense contexts. Zargham emphasized the importance of treating AI systems as public infrastructure, underscoring how transparency and community governance are essential to ensuring safety, resilience, and ethical alignment at scale.
While in Austin, Zargham and Johnson also engaged in discussions with leaders, including Jovita Neliupšienė, the EU Ambassador to the U.S., and OpenTeams CEO Joe Merrill, exploring the intersections of public policy, international cooperation, and open-source innovation.
We’re grateful to OpenTeams for the invitation and to all participants advancing the conversation around digital infrastructure and responsible innovation.
KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION INFRASTRUCTURE RESEARCH
Digital Infrastructure Research & Development: KOI Network Protocol x Project Interlay
Explore the innovative Knowledge Organization Infrastructure Network Protocol and Project Interlay, two initiatives reshaping decentralized knowledge organization. This article synthesizes ongoing BlockScience research, featuring insights from Research Engineers Luke Miller and Orion Reed on network architecture, adaptive interfaces, and the future of decentralized knowledge systems.
Metagov KOI
At ETHDenver 2025, the KOI Project introduced a new approach to organizational networks, focusing on permissionless, decentralized collaboration. Presented by Professor Ellie Rennie and Dr. Michael Zargham, the talk explores digital twins, knowledge governance, and how organizations can work together to create lasting change.
GOVERNANCE & EMERGING TECH
Online Governance Surfaces and Attention Economies
How do we govern attention? In this dynamic panel hosted by Nathan Schneider, Michael Zargham joins Ronen Tamari and Rena O’Brien to explore governance surfaces, attention costs, and regenerative coordination. Together, they unpack the limits of participation in decentralized systems and what thoughtful design can do to help.
Lobbying For Privacy In Hostile Era
In this insightful panel discussion, Lisa Loud moderates a conversation with Clara Tsao, a founding officer of the Filecoin Foundation, and BlockScience Senior Researcher Eric Alston. They explore strategies for effectively lobbying for privacy and advocating for favorable regulations that support the emerging tech industry, even in challenging environments. Gain valuable perspectives on navigating the complex regulatory landscape to drive meaningful change in the decentralized space.
ECOSYSTEM
Grassroots Economics Book Launch
Will Ruddick (left) celebrates the release of his new book, “Grassroots Economics: Reflection and Practice” with Jeff Emmett (right), diving into shared insights on Commitment Pooling — and its striking parallels to mycelial networks and MycoFi! 🍄
Funding the Commons, San Francisco
At the 12th Funding the Commons conference in San Francisco, held at the historic Internet Archive, BlockScience Advisor Amber Case presented "An Anthropology of Cyborgs, for Cyborgs." Her talk delved into the evolving relationship between humans and technology, a subject she has extensively explored in her book, "An Illustrated Dictionary of Cyborg Anthropology".
Devcon & ETH Global, Bangkok, Thailand
Snapshots from recent gatherings with P2P Foundation’s Michel Bauwens, BSci Technical Project Manager and Researcher Jakob Hackel, BSci Researcher Jeff Emmett, and the amazing research team behind the Chinese translation of MycoFi — including a mycelial-themed VR experience! Always a joy to connect with collaborators exploring systems, translation, and playful interfaces.
🙏 Thank you for walking with us on our mission… From sharing knowledge to deepening our global partnerships, this quarter reminds us that meaningful systems are shaped not just by what we build, but how - and with whom - we build them.
We’re grateful to be in conversation with so many thoughtful collaborators and curious minds. If something here sparked interest or you want to explore a connection, don’t hesitate to reach out at info@block.science.
From our team to yours… Enjoy the vibrant colors of spring! 🌷🐇
ABOUT BLOCKSCIENCE
BlockScience® is a complex systems engineering, R&D, and analytics firm. By integrating ethnography, applied mathematics, and computational science, we analyze and design safe and resilient socio-technical systems. With deep expertise in Market Design, Distributed Systems, and AI, we provide engineering, design, and analytics services to a wide range of clients including for-profit, non-profit, academic, and government organizations.
