Evidence-based. Scholarly. Thought-provoking.
Evidence-based. Scholarly.
Thought-provoking.
A repository of evidence-based true stories of technology-related governance dilemma across various sectors shared by industry, policy and academic experts.
FEATURED CASE STUDIES
Nurturing a Vibrant EV Industry in Canada: Augmenting the Intangibles Beyond Infrastructure
Artie Ng
In February 2026, Canada revised its policy on the national sales targets of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) to 20 percent of new vehicles by 2026, 60 percent by 2030, and 100 percent by 2035. This case reveals the challenges of developing Canada’s electric vehicle (EV) industry under the recently renewed strategic plan for the automotive sector, which could create jobs beyond manufacturing. Considering competing interests, how should limited resources be allocated to nurture this emerging industry?
The Last Straw? GNSS Disruption in the High North
Jessica West
This case examines persistent disruption of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) affecting northern Norway and the broader Arctic region. What began as episodic concern during a major NATO exercise in 2018 evolved into a recurring operational problem, intensifying after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and increasingly affecting civilian aviation, maritime navigation and emergency services. By 2025, suspected spoofing incidents had added a new layer of risk by introducing misleading positioning data rather than simple signal loss.
Who Pulls the Plug? Governing Autonomous AI Shutdown Decisions in Canada’s Smart Grid
Abbas Yazdinejad
This case presents a decision-forcing dilemma within the context of a provincial electricity operator. After a suspected coordinated cyber intrusion, an AI-based anomaly detection system recommends immediate substation isolation. The intervention likely prevents a cascading grid instability, but triggers rolling outages that affect hospitals and public transit. Post-incident analysis shows that the AI system substantially overestimated the probability of failure, prompting questions about AI-assisted decision making.
Kenya: Huduma or Hegemony? Digital Identity, Data Sovereignty and the Governance Gap
Barry Appleton
This case study examines the constitutional, regulatory and operational difficulties that have attended Kenya’s three successive attempts to deploy a national digital identity system. Each generation has been challenged in the High Court, and in each case the same legal flaw has been determinative. The case asks how a state should respond when its preferred operational path has been twice declared unlawful, and a third generation of the same system is now before the courts.
Canada’s Real-Time Payments: Why Efficiency, Access and Accountability Must Move Together
Maral Niazi, Abbas Yazdinejad and Hadis Karimipour
Amendments to the Canadian Payments Act are coming into force and expanding Payments Canada membership eligibility to payment service providers (PSPs) supervised by the Bank of Canada. Yet the broader problem remains unresolved: Canada does not yet have live Real-Time Rail (RTR) and is the only G7 country without a real-time payments system. The primary goal of this case study is to examine whether broadening eligibility is enough.
RECENT CASE STUDIES
Saving Data, Securing EU Accession: Diia’s Dual-Cloud Dilemma in 2025
Digital Public Infrastructure, Platform Governance, Security Governance
Dmytro Chumachenko
By April 2025, Diia served roughly 22 million users with 140 services. However, this wartime success now collides with the EU Data Act, which requires cloud contracts to allow workload switching.
Google’s Privacy Paradox: Can the UK Protect Privacy without Harming Competition?
Economy, Platform Governance, Public Policy
Lex Zard
This case study explores how to develop a sense of nuance in digital technology markets by examining Google’s Privacy Sandbox Paradox.
The Open Banking Dilemma: Structural Reform or Oligopoly Reinforcement?
Data Governance, Digital Public Infrastructure, Economy, Public Policy
Ryan Williams
This case examines the policy dilemma facing Canadian regulators as they finalize the implementation framework for consumer-directed banking, commonly referred to as open banking.
State in a Smartphone: Ukraine’s Critical Navigation of a Service Delivery App as a Wartime Defence Tool
Digital Public Infrastructure, Platform Governance, Security Governance
Bo Kelestyn
This case explores the rise of Diia, Ukraine’s groundbreaking digital governance platform, through the lens of leadership, innovation and crisis.





