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Vision
Interview with Carlos Moreira
Carlos Moreira, a multi-award-winning technology pioneer and visionary, has long championed the preservation of human identity and privacy in the digital realm. His journey began in 1989 when he recognized the implications of the World Wide Web's rapid evolution on human identity. As Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist, developed the web at CERN to facilitate automated information sharing among scientists, Carlos foresaw a critical shortcoming: the original web architecture did not distinguish between a machine and a human. He realized that as the web grew into a global infrastructure, it would lack mechanisms to protect human identity directly, forcing reliance on third-party providers for identity management. This structural flaw, Carlos predicted, would eventually lead to the data protection issues we face today, where identities are owned by platforms rather than individuals.
Carlos’s belief in privacy as a basic, fundamental human right has driven his career and endeavors. However, he views this right as increasingly endangered. In today’s age of surveillance capitalism—a term coined by Shoshana Zuboff in 2018—new digital technologies track and scrutinize every aspect of our online behavior. In the digital economy, every click, search, or like becomes an asset to be monetized, turning our lives into a source of data for a system that prioritizes profit over freedom. According to Carlos, this ongoing domestication into a state where decision rights disappear before we even realize there’s a decision to be made is both alarming and unacceptable.
To counter this, Carlos advocates for a new awareness—one that is infused with a human-rights-based approach, treating each "netizen" as a dignified moral being worthy of respect. Without such a paradigm shift, he warns, our connectivity will continue to offer a perverse mixture of empowerment inextricably linked with diminishment. In alignment with this vision, the OISTE Foundation—building on various resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council—focuses on protecting and promoting the right to privacy in the digital age.
Leveraging his extensive background in IT, online security, and trust management, gained through work with the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, Carlos founded WISeKey over two decades ago. This was one of the world’s first cybersecurity companies, and he continues to play a pivotal role in organizations dedicated to advancing technology while preserving human identity. Residing in Geneva, Switzerland, with his family, Carlos's overarching goal is to construct a technological environment where the convergence of humanity and technology is carefully managed, addressing both the immediate impacts on daily life and the profound long-term consequences.
Through his innovative platform, Carlos actively educates and engages global citizens on the ways technology shapes our personal, communal, and professional lives. Working within both the United Nations and the private sector, he emphasizes that technological advancements must align with human progress. Achieving proper governance over technology is, in his view, critical in defining global governance for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Carlos has spearheaded several groundbreaking initiatives and companies, including WISeKey, WISe.ART, SEALSQ.COM, WISeSat.Space, and the TransHuman Code movement. The TransHuman Code was founded to redefine our hierarchy of needs and how we will address them in the future. This movement provides insights from leading experts on how technologies like AI, blockchain, cybersecurity, quantum computing, IoT, and robotics are transforming education, employment, communication, transportation, communities, security, government, food, finance, entertainment, and health.
Currently, Carlos is deeply involved in exploring the development and implications of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). He acknowledges AGI as a central goal of the artificial intelligence community and believes it is only a matter of time before this feat is achieved. To master AGI, humans will need to innovate techniques and technologies that enable machines to reason, learn, and adapt in ways similar to human intelligence. This may involve creating machine learning algorithms capable of unsupervised learning, where machines autonomously uncover patterns and relationships in data, as well as developing cognitive architectures that replicate the brain’s structure and function, equipping machines with human-like reasoning and problem-solving capabilities.
Realizing AGI will also require advanced hardware to support complex computations and vast data storage. This will likely involve the development of new computing architectures, such as neuromorphic computing, designed to emulate the brain’s information-processing capabilities. Central to Carlos’s vision is the collaboration between humans and machines, where humans contribute creativity, intuition, and ethical guidance while machines provide computational power and sophisticated learning capabilities. This synergy is key to harnessing the transformative potential of AGI, addressing some of the world’s most critical challenges, and ushering in a new era of technological progress.
Carlos's lifelong dedication to preserving human identity and privacy is evident in his current and past work. By anticipating the challenges and opportunities of technology from the web's inception, he remains steadfast in his mission to advocate for technologies that respect and enhance human dignity, ensuring they contribute to a future where privacy is not merely a right but a fundamental pillar of human freedom.
Carlos’s belief in privacy as a basic, fundamental human right has driven his career and endeavors. However, he views this right as increasingly endangered. In today’s age of surveillance capitalism—a term coined by Shoshana Zuboff in 2018—new digital technologies track and scrutinize every aspect of our online behavior. In the digital economy, every click, search, or like becomes an asset to be monetized, turning our lives into a source of data for a system that prioritizes profit over freedom. According to Carlos, this ongoing domestication into a state where decision rights disappear before we even realize there’s a decision to be made is both alarming and unacceptable.
To counter this, Carlos advocates for a new awareness—one that is infused with a human-rights-based approach, treating each "netizen" as a dignified moral being worthy of respect. Without such a paradigm shift, he warns, our connectivity will continue to offer a perverse mixture of empowerment inextricably linked with diminishment. In alignment with this vision, the OISTE Foundation—building on various resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council—focuses on protecting and promoting the right to privacy in the digital age.
Leveraging his extensive background in IT, online security, and trust management, gained through work with the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, Carlos founded WISeKey over two decades ago. This was one of the world’s first cybersecurity companies, and he continues to play a pivotal role in organizations dedicated to advancing technology while preserving human identity. Residing in Geneva, Switzerland, with his family, Carlos's overarching goal is to construct a technological environment where the convergence of humanity and technology is carefully managed, addressing both the immediate impacts on daily life and the profound long-term consequences.
Through his innovative platform, Carlos actively educates and engages global citizens on the ways technology shapes our personal, communal, and professional lives. Working within both the United Nations and the private sector, he emphasizes that technological advancements must align with human progress. Achieving proper governance over technology is, in his view, critical in defining global governance for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Carlos has spearheaded several groundbreaking initiatives and companies, including WISeKey, WISe.ART, SEALSQ.COM, WISeSat.Space, and the TransHuman Code movement. The TransHuman Code was founded to redefine our hierarchy of needs and how we will address them in the future. This movement provides insights from leading experts on how technologies like AI, blockchain, cybersecurity, quantum computing, IoT, and robotics are transforming education, employment, communication, transportation, communities, security, government, food, finance, entertainment, and health.
Currently, Carlos is deeply involved in exploring the development and implications of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). He acknowledges AGI as a central goal of the artificial intelligence community and believes it is only a matter of time before this feat is achieved. To master AGI, humans will need to innovate techniques and technologies that enable machines to reason, learn, and adapt in ways similar to human intelligence. This may involve creating machine learning algorithms capable of unsupervised learning, where machines autonomously uncover patterns and relationships in data, as well as developing cognitive architectures that replicate the brain’s structure and function, equipping machines with human-like reasoning and problem-solving capabilities.
Realizing AGI will also require advanced hardware to support complex computations and vast data storage. This will likely involve the development of new computing architectures, such as neuromorphic computing, designed to emulate the brain’s information-processing capabilities. Central to Carlos’s vision is the collaboration between humans and machines, where humans contribute creativity, intuition, and ethical guidance while machines provide computational power and sophisticated learning capabilities. This synergy is key to harnessing the transformative potential of AGI, addressing some of the world’s most critical challenges, and ushering in a new era of technological progress.
Carlos's lifelong dedication to preserving human identity and privacy is evident in his current and past work. By anticipating the challenges and opportunities of technology from the web's inception, he remains steadfast in his mission to advocate for technologies that respect and enhance human dignity, ensuring they contribute to a future where privacy is not merely a right but a fundamental pillar of human freedom.