Please join the GeoTech Center on Thursday, June 2 from 12-1 p.m. ET for what promises to be a lively virtual discussion on the intersection of technology standards, the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and international institutions.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, geopolitical tensions in Europe and globally have spiked, and already-contentious issues across the globe have become increasingly fraught. One such inflection point is the upcoming election for the next Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the UN’s official technology regulator. There are two candidates – Rashid Ismailov, a Russian ex-tech minister with ties to Huawei, and Doreen Bogdan-Martin, an American candidate with enthusiastic backing from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

The election is both a symbolic contest between Russia and the United States and an event with potentially significant consequences on the global technology standardization landscape. In this GeoTech Hour, we will explore the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the ITU election and on standards policy in general, asking: How might the election play out? Has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine harmed Ismailov’s chances? And how important is the ITU presidency to global standards-setting?

Featuring

Chris P. Carney
Representative, D-PA (former)
U.S. House of Representatives

Justin Sherman
Nonresident Fellow, Cyber Statecraft Initiative
Atlantic Council

Mercedes Page
Fellow, International Strategy Forum (Asia)
Schmidt Futures

Moderated by

Giulia Neaher
Assistant Director, GeoTech Center
Atlantic Council