The Atlantic Council’s bipartisan Commission on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data released a landmark report. The report proposes recommendations for the US government and like-minded allies on global technology and data development policy. The report comes amid the “GeoTech Decade,” in which new technologies and data capabilities will have an outsized impact on geopolitics, economics, and global governance. However, no nation or international organization has created the appropriate governance structures needed to grapple with the complex and destabilizing dynamics of emerging technologies.
Specifically, the GeoTech Commission examined how the United States, along with other nations and global stakeholders, can maintain science and technology (S&T) leadership, ensure the trustworthiness and resiliency of physical and software/informational technology (IT) supply chains and infrastructures, and improve global health protection and wellness. The GeoTech Commission identified key recommendations and practical steps forward for the US Congress, the presidential administration, executive branch agencies, private industry, academia, and like-minded nations.
GeoTech Commission Honorary Co-chairs
Mark R. Warner
U.S. Senator from Virginia
Mark R. Warner is the U.S. Senator from the state of Virginia since November 2008 and serves on the Senate Finance, Banking, Budget, and Rules Committees as well as the Select Committee on Intelligence, where he is the Vice Chairman. From 2002 to 2006, he served as Governor of Virginia.
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Rob Portman
Former U.S. Senator for Ohio
Rob Portman is a former U.S. Senator from the state of Ohio, serving from 2010-2023, and was a member of the Senate Finance Committee, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Joint Economic Committee. He was also Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. A Republican, Portman previously served as a U.S. Representative, the 14th United States Trade Representative, and the 35th Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
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Michael T. McCaul
U.S. Congressman Representing Texas’ 10th District
Michael T. McCaul is a U.S. Congressman representing Texas’ 10th Congressional District since January 2005 and is the Republican Leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee as well as co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional High Tech Caucus and the Cybersecurity Caucus. Prior to being term-limited, Congressman McCaul served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security during the 113th, 115th, and 116th Congresses. Prior to Congress, Michael McCaul served as Chief of Counter Terrorism and National Security in the U.S. Attorney’s office, Western District of Texas, served as Texas Deputy Attorney General, and as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section in Washington, DC.
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Suzan DelBene
U.S. Congresswoman Representing Washington’s 1st District
Suzan DelBene is a U.S. Congresswoman representing Washington’s 1st Congressional District since November 2012, and takes on a wide range of challenges leading on issues of technology, health and agriculture. A Democrat, she serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, on the Select Revenue Measures, Trade, and Oversight Subcommittees, as Vice-Chair of the New Democrat Coalition, and co-chair of the Women’s High Tech Caucus, Internet of Things Caucus, Dairy Caucus and Aluminum Caucus.
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GeoTech Commission co-chairs
John Goodman
Chief Executive, Accenture Federal Services
John Goodman is the Chief Executive of Accenture Federal Services (AFS), which serves clients across all sectors of the US federal government – defense, intelligence, public safety, health, and civilian.
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Max R. Peterson II
Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services
Max Peterson is Vice President for Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Worldwide Public Sector. Mr. Peterson is responsible for all AWS Public Sector sales, business operations, and strategy. A public sector industry veteran with thirty years of experience, he has an extensive background in developing relationships with public sector customers, as well as system integrators, solution providers, independent software vendors, and value-added resellers. Prior to joining AWS in 2012, Mr. Peterson spent almost five years with Dell Inc., where he served as Vice President and General Manager for Dell Federal Civilian and Intelligence Agencies. He also previously served as Vice President of Federal Sales for CDWG, and with Commerce One, where he served as Vice President of Public Sector Sales. He has held leadership positions on the Professional Services Council and served as a board member of the Cloud Computing Caucus Advisory Group and the Government Information Technology Executive Council.
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GeoTech Commissioners
Vint Cerf
VP and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google
Vinton G. Cerf is vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google. He contributes to global policy development and continued spread of the Internet. Widely known as one of the “Fathers of the Internet,” Cerf is the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols and the architecture of the Internet. He has served in executive positions at MCI, the Corporation for National Research Initiatives and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and on the faculty of Stanford University.
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Shirley Ann Jackson
President Emeritus, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
The Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. became the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on July 1, 1999. Dr. Jackson is a theoretical physicist. Since coming to Rensselaer, Dr. Jackson has led the development of the Rensselaer Plan (the Institute’s strategic blueprint), has begun implementation of much of the Plan, while restructuring processes and procedures; and secured a $360 million unrestricted gift commitment to the university.
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Michael Chertoff
Former United States Secretary of Homeland Security
Michael Chertoff heads the Chertoff Group, providing high-level strategic counsel to corporate and government leaders on a broad range of security issues, from risk identification and prevention to preparedness, response and recovery. Mr. Chertoff is also senior of counsel at Covington & Burling LLP, and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group.
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Zia Khan
Vice President for Innovation, The Rockefeller Foundation
As Senior Vice President for Innovation, Zia oversees the Foundation’s approach to developing solutions that can have transformative impact on people’s lives, with a focus on innovative finance, data & technology, and science. He writes and speaks frequently on leadership, strategy, and innovation. Zia has served on the World Economic Forum Advisory Council for Social Innovation and the US National Advisory Board for Impact Investing. He is an investor and advisor to a range of impact-oriented enterprises.
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Ramayya Krishnan
Director, Block Center for Technology and Society, Carnegie Mellon University
Ramayya Krishnan is the W. W. Cooper and Ruth F. Cooper Professor of Management Science and Information Systems at the H. John Heinz III College and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. A faculty member at CMU since 1988, Krishnan was appointed Dean when the Heinz College was created in 2008. Krishnan was elected in 2017 to serve as the 25th President of INFORMS, and is an INFORMS Fellow.
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Michael J. Rogers
Former Chairman for the US House Intelligence Committee
Michael J. Rogers is an executive producer for the CNN program Declassified: Untold Stories of American Spies. He was the US Representative for Michigan’s 8th congressional district from 2001 to 2015. From 2011 to 2015, he was Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
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Susan M. Gordon
Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence
The Honorable Susan (Sue) M. Gordon served as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) until August 15, 2019. With nearly three decades of experience in the IC, Ms. Gordon has served in a variety of leadership roles spanning numerous intelligence organizations and disciplines. Most recently, Ms. Gordon served as the Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) from 2015 to 2017. In this role, she helped the director lead the agency and manage the National System of Geospatial Intelligence. She drove NGA’s transformation to meet the challenges of a 21st century intelligence agency. She also championed agile governance, recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce, and expansion of geospatial intelligence services to the open marketplace. She is known for her commitment to diversity and inclusion and, to the women and men of the IC.
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Maurice Sonnenberg
Worked with Five Presidential Administrations
Maurice Sonnenberg has served as an outside advisor to five Presidential Administrations in the areas of international trade, finance, international relations, intelligence, and foreign election monitoring. In 1994 and 1995, he served as a member of the US Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, and from 1996 as the Senior Advisor to the US Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the US Intelligence Community. He was a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under President Bill Clinton for 8 years. In 2002, he was a member of the Task Force of Terrorist Financing for the Council on Foreign Relations. From 2007-2010, he served on the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council and the Panel Advisory Board for the Secretary of the Navy from 2008-2015. In 2012-14, he served as co-Chairman of the National Commission for the Review of the Research and Development Programs for the Intelligence Community. He has also served as an Official US Observer at elections in Latin America. This includes multiple elections in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico. Sonnenberg has worked at the investment banking firms Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette, Bear Stearns, and J.P. Morgan, and at the law firms Hunton & Williams, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Currently, he is with Guggenheim Securities as Senior International Advisor. He is also a Senior Advisor to the Advanced Metallurgical Group, N.V.
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Anthony Scriffignano, Ph.D
SVP, Chief Data Scientist at Dun & Bradstreet Corporation
Anthony Scriffignano, Ph.D. is SVP, Chief Data Scientist at Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. He is also a member of the OECD Network of Experts on AI working group on implementing Trustworthy AI, focused on benefiting people and planet. He has briefed the US National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and contributed to three separate reports to the President, on Big Data Analytics, Emerging Technologies Strategic Vision, and Internet and Communications Resilience. Additionally, Scriffignano provided expert advice on private sector data officers to a group of state Chief Data Officers and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Scriffignano serves on various advisory committees in government, private sector, and academia. Most recently, he has been called upon to provide insight on data science implications in the context of a highly disrupted datasphere and the implications of the global pandemic.
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Frances Townsend
Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Compliance Officer, Activision Blizzard
Frances F. Townsend has served as the Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Compliance Officer for Activision Blizzard since March 2021. In this role she oversees Government Affairs, Public Policy, and Communications among other corporate functions. From 2004 to 2008, Frances served as the assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism to President George W. Bush, chairing the Homeland Security Council during a pivotal period for the United States.
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Admiral James Stavridis
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe
Admiral James Stavridis is a retired four-star U.S. naval officer. He is currently Vice Chair, Global Affairs and Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, a global investment firm. He is also 12th Chair of Rockefeller Foundation board. Previously he served for five years as the 12th Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He led the NATO Alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as 16th Supreme Allied Commander with responsibility for Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, Syria, counter piracy, and cyber security. He also served as Commander of U.S. Southern Command, with responsibility for all military operations in Latin America from 2006-2009.
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Scott Morgan
Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Global Affairs & Secretary, Splunk
Scott Morgan is Senior Vice President; Chief Legal Officer, Global Affairs; and Secretary at Splunk Inc., a San Francisco-based technology company. Splunk provides innovative software solutions that remove the barriers between data and action, enabling information-technology, DevOps, and security teams to transform their organizations with data from any source and on any timescale. As an executive officer of the company, Morgan has responsibility for Splunk’s legal, government-affairs, and Splunk for Good functions. He is responsible for providing strategic legal and policy counsel to the company and its board of directors and advancing the company’s strategic engagement with government organizations. He manages Splunk’s environmental, social, and governance and social-impact initiatives, including its pledge to donate $100 million of Splunk product, training, support, and education to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions around the world to support and amplify positive social impact.
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Irit Idan
Strategic Advisor, SICPA
Irit Idan is a Strategic Advisor at SICPA, a trusted global provider of security inks as well as secured identification, traceability, and authentication solutions. Irit holds a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the Technion and received the Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship Award which is annually granted to women pursing graduate degrees in aerospace-related sciences and aerospace-related engineering.
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