Public ownership of railways and road networks, land and natural resources, water and electricity utilities, and banking and postal services helped build the infrastructure, institutions, and technologies of the mid-20th century. Today, public ownership once again has a key role to play in laying the foundations for a transformative and prosperous 21st-century economy.

However, if the 21st century is to be one of genuinely shared prosperity that is democratic and sustainable by design, new, more democratic models of public ownership will be needed to reimagine and remake the emerging commanding heights of the next economy: digital technologies, data and infrastructure, and the natural and common resources that are critical to the continued functioning of our planet. To that end, The Democracy Collaborative and Common Wealth launched a project to explore the frontiers of public ownership in the 21st century.

This project was designed to develop policy ideas in four areas where existing structures of ownership in the UK and US amplify corporate power, erode workers’ rights, increase inequality, and accelerate the climate crisis: digital infrastructure, data and platforms, Intellectual property and research and development, and land and natural resources.

A complete set of reports, graphics, and other resources are available from Common Wealth.