Future of Property Rights

The Future of Property Rights Program A quarter of the world’s population lacks a fundamental human right: the right to property. That’s because these two billion people cannot access the most basic elements of property rights: verifiable and secure documents, accurate maps, and courts and government agencies that believe them. This is not just a problem in the developing world; in the United States, for example, hundreds of thousands of people have insecure property rights and may not even know it. Modern technology can greatly simplify the task of recording and defending property rights at scale. And yet, it’s not being used. Why? We believe a fundamental disconnect between policymakers and technologists is hindering progress in the global fight for property rights. Silicon Valley often misunderstands the policies, politics, and realities that its technologies must respond to in developing countries. And policymakers are often unaware or skeptical of available technology. As a result, one-fourth of the planet continues to miss out on the benefit of having clear and secure property rights. Not only that: as humans enter entirely new spaces, and exploit previously underutilized spaces, we are finding that property rights governance frameworks are grossly outdated. The Future of Property Rights Program at New America aims to help solve today’s property rights challenges by shrinking the gulf between technologists and policymakers. Through our research, writing, and convening, we strive to bring these two constituents into the same room. Our goal is to act as a bridge, as a translator between the world of drones, artificial intelligence, and self-sovereign identity, and the world of politics, laws, and institutions. At the same time, we aim to preempt emerging property rights challenges by thinking critically about the paradigms that govern new spaces including data, the oceans, and outer space. Join our journey by attending our events, reading our reports and publications, and using our tools. Want to keep up with our work? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive our monthly newsletter and invitations to our events. You can also follow us on Twitter at @NewAmericaFPR or email us as FPR@NewAmerica.org. Access a PDF version of our program's one-pager here.