TECHtonic Shifts

I originally intended this book to be a diary about my days at the OECD. However, as the entries mounted up I soon realised that we are experiencing a great transition. When does a new era start? Once our old notions do not work anymore, or if using them becomes so forced that we begin losing touch with reality. We continue to employ the concepts of the epoch of globalisation such as international trade, labour productivity or the SME sector, although they apply less and less to the world of robots, giant digital corporations, new global value chains, user networks hundreds of millions strong and dynamic start-ups. Perhaps we can better understand the transformation around us if we adopt a different perspective and start out from what we see, i.e. the features of a new age.

The author has been the ambassador of Hungary to the OECD and the UNESCO in Paris, France, since 2014. Previously, he served as Minister of State for Economic Strategy in Hungary. He has worked as research fellow in Budapest, Vienna, Munich, Heidelberg, and Cardiff. He was professor of economic geography at Andrássy University Budapest, and has been lecturer at Kodolányi College in Hungary for two decades.

“Technology has transformed the tempo of change from nations to individual lives. Zoltán Cséfalvay does us a great service by connecting technology to both society and politics, and as such makes technology a central part of history, both in the past and going forward. His ability to align technology with a range of other human activities makes this an exceptionally important book.” -- George Friedman, Chairman of Geopolitical Futures and author of the New York Times Bestseller: The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century

“An exuberant romp on the theme of technology, but with many excursions into history, politics, business, and culture. Don’t plan to read this book from start to finish--just dive in.” -- Catherine L. Mann, Chief Economist of the OECD

“This is a truly comprehensive and sophisticated primer on the coming hybrid age of technological evolution and its worldwide impact, especially on the Millennial generation.” -- Parag Khanna, best-selling author of Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization