Western society at the crossroads, part I: Data, people, and tech

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Part II

Public Event Wed, September 16, 2020 • 12:00 pm ET

Western society at the crossroads, part II: Smart partnerships in a changing world

ONLINE EVENT – An expert discussion about global cooperation, a rising China, and the implications of emerging technologies in a turbulent time for the international order. TIMEZONE NOTE – The times listed on this page are in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, UTC-04:00)

Event description

Episode 1 of The GeoTech Hour.

Please join the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center on Wednesday, September 9 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. EDT for an engaging expert panel discussion about the geopolitical ramifications of both new data capabilities and new technologies as well as the challenges they pose to defense and national security in Western governments and open societies.

Today, citizens upload information about themselves willingly to the internet that would have been the envy of former authoritarian oversight regimes. Journalists are embedded with the frontline troops of armies, investigative bloggers publish state of the art analysis freely available to all, and Twitter provides near-live feedback on events and movements of insurgent forces. Western governments, and an increasing number of non-Western governments, publish defense and security policies and strategies and seek public consultation that would have been secret in years gone by. The array of information available freely in the West has raised the bar of expectation on governments, but not all information is equal, nor equally available. Not all technology is necessarily positive or progressive. How can we do the business of defense and national security with the public in an era of increasing information overload? How can we involve people in the business of defense and national securities? How can data and technologies assist in finding new roles to involve the public?

Speakers

Joseph T. Bonivel, Jr., PhD
Nonresident Senior Fellow, GeoTech Center
Atlantic Council;
Subject Matter Expert
United States Department of Defense

Carol Dumaine
Cofounder
20-20 Foresight

Thammy Evans
Senior Security Sector Reform Advisor
Defense and Governance

Lewis Shepherd
Senior Director, Research and Emerging Technologies Strategy
VMware