Digital currency’s role in the future of central banks

Before coins were re-introduced, goods or services were priced in multiples of fives because but since the death of coins and the near extinction of some Naira notes, price levels have been affected greatly, which means no goods could be bought for 1 Naira because no such denomination is available, so lowest-priced goods stayed at 5 Naira and Naira 10 Naira. Is there any possibility that coins or the denominations fast going out of circulation will return stronger in the nearest future?

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet chronicled his space mission in 360° panorama photos. Now anybody can peruse them on Google Street View and float virtually through the International Space Station.

Pakistani authorities imposed new restrictions on online content. Critics and content producers are worried about their negative impacts on the digital economy.

The internet is an essential resource for daily life. We use it to stay informed, for school and increasingly for work. But major inequalities in terms of access to the web persist. Africa lags behind much of the rest of the world in terms of connectivity, deepening existing inequalities. The spread of misinformation is also a major issue across the continent. For more on what's being done to address these challenges, Nnenna Nwakanma from the World Wide Web Foundation joined us for Perspective.

India is expected to launch a digital version of its currency, the rupee. The plan for the sovereign-backed digital currency comes as the popularity of cryptocurrencies is on the rise.

South Koreans went to the polls on Wednesday March 9 to elect a new president. Perhaps unsurprisingly for one of the most connected countries in the world, candidates for the top job used technology in a bid to connect with as many voters as possible, especially younger ones. Our correspondents report on the digital tools that have shaped the election campaign, from AI-generated clones of candidates to metaverse virtual reality platforms.

A Nigerian project is turning looted works of African art into non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, in a form of "alternative repatriation".

Imagine using an EU-wide app to pay your bills, to access your local government services or to upload a medical file or a driving licence. You would log in with a unique, life-long ID number. To some, this might sound convenient – much like travelling smoothly across borders with a digital Covid-19 certificate. To others, it's the stuff of Orwellian nightmares – a step towards mass surveillance and control. Either way, plans for an EU digital identity are coalescing, with a "common toolbox" expected this September. We debate the issues at stake with two MEPs.

Since February 24, Ukraine has been putting up fierce resistance against Russia: on the ground, but also in the digital sphere. FRANCE 24 spoke with Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, George Dubinskiy. He explained that Ukraine, which suffered several large-scale cyberattacks long before February 24, has been in a digital war against Moscow "since 2014" and is defending not only its land borders, but also digital ones.

Digital sovereignty is a key idea in the internet age — the idea that parties must have sovereignty over their own digital data. This can be applied on an individual basis or toward nations — the bottom line is that digital sovereignty involves consideration of how data and digital assets are treated.

FRANCE 24 sat down with Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation. The ministry was created in 2019 because President Volodymyr Zelensky had promised that Ukraine would be a pioneering e-government. Since the Russian invasion, digital transformation has been put on a "war footing", Fedorov said. He told FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg about several projects: a chatbot that allows people to send information about the movements of the Russian army, a joint project on drones with the Ukrainian military, as well as the use of artificial intelligence for facial recognition. The latter includes identifying slain Russian soldiers and informing their families via social media.

A new visa program will allow more foreign professionals to work from Thailand. However, applicants must prove that they have enough money in the bank.