The Good Robot podcast: the future of data centres and digital sovereignty with Friederike von Franqué
This episode of The Good Robot explores how feminist principles and decentralized infrastructure could transform cloud infrastructure from a corporate service into a public commons. Friederike von Franqué, policy advisor at Wikimedia Germany, discusses examples from Frankfurt's energy-intensive data centres to Stockholm's municipally owned fibre network, advocating for environmental accountability and community-driven design.
Article intelligence
Key points
- Friederike von Franqué advocates for feminist and decentralized approaches to cloud infrastructure.
- The episode contrasts Frankfurt's high-energy data centres with Stockholm's communal fibre network.
- The discussion emphasizes technology serving the common good over corporate profit.
Why it matters
This matters because friederike von Franqué advocates for feminist and decentralized approaches to cloud infrastructure.
Technical impact
May affect compliance requirements, model release timing, data governance, and enterprise procurement.
Hosted by Eleanor Drage and Kerry McInerney, The Good Robot is a podcast which explores the many complex intersections between gender, feminism and technology.
The future of data centres and digital sovereignty with Friederike von Franqué
Can cloud infrastructure be owned and governed by the people, and not just Big Tech? Friederike von Franqué, policy advisor at Wikimedia Germany, reveals how feminist principles and decentralized infrastructure are transforming the internet from a corporate service into a public commons.
In this episode, we explore Friederike’s work with Wikimedia Germany. From the energy-intensive data centers of Frankfurt to Stockholm’s municipally owned fibre infrastructure, we examine the struggle to build technology that prioritizes the common good over corporate profit. Friederike explains why hyperscalers are not always the solution, and why we need environmental accountability and community-driven design.
This conversation pulls back the curtain on the hidden data systems powering our lives, offering a provocative roadmap for a more equitable and sustainable digital future.
Listen to the episode here:
Friederike von Franqué is a policy advisor at Wikimedia Germany, where she works on issues related to digital infrastructure, governance, and the public interest. Her work focuses on promoting decentralized, community-driven approaches to technology, drawing on feminist principles to advocate for more equitable, transparent, and sustainable digital systems.
You can find the episode reading list and transcript here.
About The Good Robot Podcast
Dr Eleanor Drage and Dr Kerry McInerney are Research Associates at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, where they work on the Mercator-Stiflung funded project on Desirable Digitalisation. Previously, they were Christina Gaw Postdoctoral Researchers in Gender and Technology at the University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies. During the COVID-19 pandemic they decided to co-found The Good Robot Podcast to explore the many complex intersections between gender, feminism and technology.