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Dear friend,
Welcome to Frontier, the monthly newsletter from the Future of Property Rights Program at New America. The past month was all about tech and twisters for FPR. Last week, we released a series of PropRightsTech Primers that explore six new property rights technologies. We also wrote for CNN and Pacific Standard about how tornadoes and other natural disasters are wreaking havoc on property rights in the United States. Here's what we've been up to:
What We're Doing
PropRightsTech Primers: How New and Emerging Technologies Can be Harnessed for Property Rights
New technologies are changing the property rights game. How can policymakers, funders, and implementers get up to speed quickly? FPR teamed up with Esri to develop primers on six new and emerging property rights technologies: machine learning, drones, blockchain, 3D cadastre, dual-band GNSS, and self-sovereign identity.
Access the primer series here.
Read Yuliya Panfil’s companion piece in The New America Weekly, pointing out that technology alone is insufficient for property rights reform; people and processes must also innovate.
Learn more about the PropRightsTech Primers during a webinar on tech and transparency that FPR and Land Portal will co-host on July 25. Register here.
Natural Disasters Expose Property Rights Insecurity Throughout the United States
An uptick in hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and flooding is damaging a growing number of Americans' homes. What happens when these families have to rebuild? A surprising number lack property documents, making it difficult for them to access aid.
Yuliya Panfil and Tim Robustelli examined this hidden phenomenon in an article for CNN. Tim Robustelli also wrote for Pacific Standard about the acute vulnerability of mobile home owners in the American South.
FPR at the Blockchain for Social Impact Conference 2019
Yuliya Panfil spoke on a panel at the Blockchain for Social Impact Conference 2019 in New York, discussing the benefits and challenges of blockchain for land.
Access a recording of the panel discussion here.
What We're Reading
"It's the middle of the night. Do you know who your iPhone is talking to?" - The Washington Post
Geoffrey A. Fowler examines questionable data sharing practices on iPhones, which can communicate with thousands of third-party application trackers weekly. Data governance challenges like this one have us thinking about innovative approaches to governing the digital world, and whether commons property paradigms can help.
"Is Half of Oklahoma an Indian Reservation? The Supreme Court Sifts the Merits" - The New York Times
Adam Liptak discusses U.S. Supreme Court deliberations over historical land claims of the Creek Nation in eastern Oklahoma. Another example of persistent property rights challenges here in the United States.
Anastasia Moloney reports on Bogota's efforts to provide land titles across rural Colombia following decades of civil war. We continue to wonder how technology can make restitution and formalization easier, cheaper, and more equitable.
Thoughts on our work or where we're headed? Feel free to reach out to us at FPR@NewAmerica.org.
Until next month, the FPR Team.
About New America
New America is dedicated to renewing America by continuing the quest to realize our nation's highest ideals. Read the rest of our story, or see what we've been doing recently in our latest Annual Report.
The Future of Property Rights Program at New America focuses on bringing together technologists and policymakers to help solve land and property rights challenges around the world.
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