I spend my working life inside the systems that remember on our behalf: databases, archives, data platforms for governments and institutions. At some point the professional question became a historical one. Who owns these memories, and what exactly do they own? My books start from there.
Who Owns Memory Owns the Future
Who decides what is remembered decides what remains possible. From the first fire circles to Mesopotamian clay tablets, from steam, electricity, and the atomic bomb to databases, recommendation feeds, and machines that now remember our conversations, this book follows a single thread through the history of civilization: whoever controls the memory of the world takes part in selecting its future. Written by an architect rather than a prophet, it closes with five questions to ask of any system we depend on: can we understand it, contest it, leave it, correct it, surprise it?
English edition
Ebook, 121 pages, August 2026.
Italian edition
Chi possiede la memoria possiede il futuro. Potere, conoscenza e immaginazione dal fuoco a Marte. The Italian original. Paperback, 98 pages, and Kindle edition, August 2026.
About the author
Mario Noioso is an Advisory Solutions Architect at MongoDB, working with public sector institutions across EMEA. Over thirty years he has designed, defended, migrated, and occasionally shut down the infrastructures of memory, from IBM mainframes to European data platforms. He is listed as an inventor in public patent databases and writes at marionoioso.com. Full profile →