The barriers to decentralized smart grids and transportation are not technical—they are trust, interoperability, and the cultural resistance to systems that distribute control rather than centralizing it. This conversation examines cybersecurity risks when millions of energy assets connect to the grid, the role of regulation in forcing trusted data exchange, and whether public or private sector frameworks should anchor digital identity for critical infrastructure.

Who is accountable when decentralized public infrastructure fails the people it was built to serve? This conversation explores the growing distance between technological advancement and policy capacity, the obligations that distinguish government from private sector, and the accessibility gaps that emerge when disabled, older, and marginalized populations are excluded from development and testing. The discussion moves from digital identity wallets to AI governance—and finds the same tensions running through each.