Earth is at a tipping point. Changes to the planet that used to take 10,000 years now take three. This means that both real-time science and real-time policy and decision-making will be the non-negotiable essence of success in the 21st Century.
Near-Earth Objects (NEO) are a more immediate threat than climate change; energy from geothermal, nuclear (as an intermediate solution), and combinations of solar, wind, and bacteria energy are desperately needed; and no nation, least of all the USA, is being intelligent about addressing the ten high-level threats to humanity or harmonizing policies and spending across all policies from Agriculture to Water.
Only a World Brain with an embedded EarthGame able to honestly depict “true costs” in near-real-time, will allow the eight demographic challengers to nurture and harvest the Earth instead of destroying it. Earth Intelligence Network, a 501c3 Public Charity, has come up with one three-part big idea for creating a prosperous world at peace:
Part 1: Create the Open Source Agency (OSA) recommended by the 9-11 Commission (page 413) to provide all individuals with free access to all information in all languages inclusive of an EarthGame™ self-governance tool helpful at every level. This unleashes the entrepreneurial energy of our rich diversity, inspires adaptability, and creates wealth. It should, however be funded and managed by Defense under diplomatic auspices, not as a spy agency.
Part 2: Create regional Multinational Decision-Support Networks so that all parties in each region can harmonize investments by location, focus, and timeframe. This ends fraud, waste, and abuse while allowing the straight-forward redirection of one third of the funding being spent on war to fully fund peace and prosperity.
Part 3: Educate the five billion poor “one cell call at a time,” with multi-lingual call centers in Brazil, China, and India. This will create infinite stabilizing wealth while providing each Member nation with an early warning system that is unaffordable by any other means.
Phi Beta Iota: The above was submitted to the special issue of the Atlantic Monthly focusing on world-changing ideas, and was not selected. It appears here for the first time. Two related briefings can be found at HACK and DK3. The DoD OSINT Leadership Briefing and the DoD OSINT Staf Briefing, as well as all the Memoranda, are relevant.