Content

New Atlanticist

Sep 11, 2020

India’s growing hostility towards Chinese technology shifts landscape of US-China data and cloud competition

By Justin Sherman and Lily Liu

US and Chinese tech companies, including in the cloud computing space, are competing for users within India. As the Indian government’s relations with Beijing change, so too does the landscape of this technological battleground.

China Cybersecurity

In the News

Sep 9, 2020

Pandemic puts pressure on innovators to speed up

By Atlantic Council

“Necessity is the mother of invention, and right now, COVID-19 has created the need for tools to treat the current pandemic and mitigate the effects of future outbreaks, Dr. Bray said. The situation reminds him of how the risk from house fires prompted innovators to design a system to warn occupants before it was too late. ‘Can we instrument the planet in such a way that we’ll have earlier warning signs about new viruses and infections, analogous to smoke detectors?’”

Civil Society Coronavirus

Event Recap

Sep 9, 2020

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

By GeoTech Center

On Wednesday, September 9 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. EDT, the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center hosted 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.

Cybersecurity Digital Policy

In the News

Sep 8, 2020

Pandemic accents federal need for identification technology

By Atlantic Council

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans have become increasingly reliant upon digital tools for their very survival. Whether in digital workspaces, or online applications for essential aid through unemployment insurance and other forms of relief, Americans have depended on digital resources to get through this tumultuous time. The crisis, though, has highlighted the weakness of much of the country’s digital infrastructure for handling such transactions, particularly in the lack of sufficient forms of digital identification. Dr. David Bray spoke to Signal magazine of the AFCEA on how Canada has implemented a form of digital identification that allowed them to overcome some of the hurdles faced by the US Government as it attempted to support the population.

Civil Society Coronavirus

Issue Brief

Sep 8, 2020

“One world, two systems” takes shape during the pandemic

By Hung Tran

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated fragmentation of the postwar world order. Its most poignant manifestation is in an intensifying competition between the United States and China for political and strategic influence. In essence, the post-Cold War globalized economic order has gradually morphed into a “one world, two systems” configuration, edging toward a new Cold War.

China Digital Policy

In the News

Aug 28, 2020

Crisis innovation through data trusts: Dr. David Bray

By Atlantic Council

Major global crises like COVID-19 have proven how understanding data quickly and effectively will be essential to our survival; and, to meet that necessity, artificial intelligence will be key. However, without intentional choices to put people at the center of how we collect and manage data, artificial intelligence could spell the end of open societies, replaced instead with surveillance states or surveillance capitalism. “If companies or countries want to succeed in the next decade, we’ve got to figure out a way to do data with people, not to people,” Dr. Bray explained.

Cybersecurity Digital Policy

GeoTech Cues

Aug 27, 2020

Building a collaborative ecosystem for AI in healthcare in Low and Middle Income Economies

By Abhinav Verma, Krisstina Rao, Vivek Eluri, and Yukti Sharma (GeoTech Guest Authors)

For AI-enabled technologies to truly transform healthcare and improve national and global health outcomes, it is imperative that cross-cutting challenges like data availability, business model sustainability, and lack of enabling infrastructure and other building blocks are addressed.

Africa Americas

Digital currencies

Aug 25, 2020

Advanced economies under pressure in the central bank digital currency race

By Barbara C. Matthews, Hung Tran

Advanced economy central banks are also actively engaged in CBDC research and development efforts. But as guardians of global reserve currencies, their approaches will necessarily be more deliberate and cautious than Beijing’s aggressiveness.

Digital Currencies Digital Policy

New Atlanticist

Aug 24, 2020

China’s Digital Currency Electronic Payment Project reveals the good and the bad of central bank digital currencies

By Hung Tran, Barbara C. Matthews

The development of the DCEP has revealed the significant advantages and potential drawbacks for both China’s digital currency project and the potential for widespread central bank digital currencies around the world.

China Digital Currencies

Event Recap

Aug 21, 2020

Digital crossroads: How to pilot data trusts for good

By Borja Prado

While much of public discussion around data has focused solely on the debate of data privacy protection versus deregulation and economic productivity, data trusts represent legal, technology-enabled constructs that allow for more equitable ways of sharing the profits among different stakeholders. In this structure, a relationship of fiduciary responsibility would exist not only with the shareholders, but also towards the data owners and producers, and where the data economy would happen "with people" instead of "to people".

Digital Policy Education

Experts

Events