Today’s economies are critically dependent on transnational digital infrastructures and platforms. The Digital Economic Security Lab (DIESL) maps these infrastructures, assesses countries’ and sectors’ dependence on them, and explains how they are shaped by economic and political forces. Our work informs policy making and business strategy and advances academic debates in international political economy, cybersecurity, and related fields.
Our flagship project GEOCLOUD: The Geopolitics of Cloud Computing tracks the global and sectoral reach of U.S. and Chinese cloud computing infrastructures. In other work we chart the geographic distribution and ownership of compute clusters that power AI services. We believe that transformations in digital infrastructures have far-reaching consequences, because in a digitized society computational power translates to political power.
DIESL is the name of Professor Vili Lehdonvirta’s joint research group at the Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, Finland, and the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, UK. It was established in 2024 with funding from the European Research Council and the Dieter Schwarz Foundation.
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Digital Economic Security Seminar – Spring 2025 Programme
Organisers/Hosts: Vili Lehdonvirta, Philipp Riederle Sessions: Tuesdays, 12pm–1pm (UK time), during Oxford term time, via Zoom Participation: Open to researchers and students from any university or research institution. Please apply here if you would like to join the seminar sessions. Spring/Trinity Term 2025 About the Oxford-Aalto Digital Economic Security Seminar Today’s economies are critically dependent…
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What Meta’s plan to build the world’s longest undersea cable means for digital infrastructure and geopolitics
Meta recently announced project Waterworth, the company’s plan to build the world’s longest submarine cable system. In this blog post, OII’s Professor Vili Lehdonvirta and DPhil candidate Anniki Mikelsaar ask what geopolitical and economic significance this massive new infrastructure project may have. Key findings How big tech is rewiring the world When data moves between…
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2024 Helsinki seminar on the Geoeconomics and Politics of Digital Infrastructures and Cloud
Today’s societies are highly reliant on digital services, but the infrastructures behind these services are undergoing a silent revolution. Data storage and computation are moving from users’ own devices and on-premises servers into hyperscale data centres operated by multinational cloud computing providers. This “shift to cloud” is a prime example concentration and servitization taking place…
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Digital Economic Security Seminar winter 2025 programme
The seminar runs via Zoom on Tuesdays 12pm-1pm UK time during Oxford term time. Participation is open to researchers and students from any university or research institution. Please send your name and affiliation to philipp.riederle@oii.ox.ac.uk if you would like to join. About the Oxford-Aalto Digital Economic Security Seminar Today’s economies are critically dependent on transnational…
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Open position: Postdoctoral researcher, ERC GEOCLOUD project (3+1 years)
Application closes on: 9.1.2025 Location: Aalto University, Helsinki area, Finland Start date: March 2025 Post duration: 3 years in the first instance, with a 1-year extension negotiable Professor Vili Lehdonvirta is hiring a postdoctoral researcher with quantitative analysis skills to work on GEOCLOUD: The Geopolitics of Cloud Computing, a new European Research Council Advanced Grant…
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Digital Economic Security Seminar autumn 2024 programme
The seminar runs via Zoom on Tuesdays 12pm-1pm UK time during Oxford term time. Participation is open to researchers and students from any university or research institution. Please send your name and affiliation to philipp.riederle@oii.ox.ac.uk if you would like to join. About the Oxford-Aalto Digital Economic Security Seminar Today’s economies are critically dependent on transnational…
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Meta plans globe-spanning sub-sea internet cable
“Over the past decade there has been a shift in which these cables are increasingly laid by large technology companies,” Professor Vili Lehdonvirta of the Oxford Internet Institute told the BBC.
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America v China: who controls Asia’s internet?
Of a panel of 12 Asian countries, seven have a majority of Chinese-run cloud clusters, according to a study by Vili Lehdonvirta and colleagues at the Oxford Internet Institute.
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Exclusive: New Research Finds Stark Global Divide in Ownership of Powerful AI Chips
A new paper shows that GPUs are highly concentrated in only 30 countries in the world, with the U.S. and China far out ahead. Much of the world lies in what the authors call “Compute Deserts:” areas where there are no GPUs for hire at all.
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Will the United States ban TikTok?
The Al Jazeera ‘Counting the Cost’ programme interview Prof Vili Lehdonvirta about the potential US TikTok band and its economic and geopolitical impacts.