The Atlantic Council Technology Programs comprises five existing efforts—the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), the GeoTech Center, the Cyber Statecraft Initiative, the Democracy + Tech Initiative, and the Capacity Building Initiative. These operations work together to address the geopolitical implications of technology and provide policymakers and global stakeholders necessary research, insights, and convenings to address challenges around global technology and ensure its responsible advancement.

Content

Event Recap

Oct 7, 2020

Event recap | Accelerating COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccine distribution strategies

By GeoTech Center

On Wednesday, October 7, 2020, the GeoTech Center convened an expert panel to discuss solutions for accelerating COVID-19 testing and thoughts on how logistics, technology, data, and people can distribute vaccines once they become available.

Coronavirus Crisis Management

In the News

Oct 7, 2020

Akhtar in Pakistan Politico: Deepfakes, AI & Digital Soldiers: Challenges of Cross-Domain Coercion for Pakistan

By Atlantic Council

Cybersecurity Digital Policy

New Atlanticist

Oct 7, 2020

The 5×5—Cybersecurity and the 117th Congress

By Simon Handler

Approximately eighty congressional committees and subcommittees claim jurisdiction over at least some dimension of cybersecurity policy. As the agenda for the coming years is only getting more crowded, Congress must improve its agility in order to pass meaningful cybersecurity legislation effectively.

Cybersecurity Disinformation
Czech Flashbang grenade

Article

Oct 6, 2020

Belarus riot police disperse crowds with Czech-made flashbangs

By Lukas Andriukaitis

Open-source clues on Czech arms company potentially supplying stun grenades to Lukashenka’s regime in violation of EU embargo.

Belarus Central Europe

Elections 2020

Oct 6, 2020

Five big questions as America votes: The geopolitical impacts of technology

By GeoTech Center

Rapid developments in technology impact social, political, and economic issues both locally and globally. As the US presidential election nears, it is critical for Americans to consider the ways technology can both provide solutions and create challenges in the future.

Elections Internet
AlertaVenezuela email banner

#AlertaVenezuela

Oct 6, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: October 6, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Heraldo Venezolano, a news aggregating website originally registered in the United States, garnered the most engagement on Facebook on reports of the Maduro regime’s receipt of a shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine on October 2, 2020.

Disinformation Venezuela

Resources

Oct 5, 2020

BGP incident data

By Justin Sherman

The Border Gateway Protocol communicates potential paths that Internet packets can take from their origin to their destination. It’s the Internet’s “GPS” for traffic and a key part of the Internet’s digital rules. There are multiple physical routes available to send an email from Washington, DC, to a user in Berlin, because the Internet is […]

Cybersecurity Internet

Report

Oct 5, 2020

The politics of internet security: Private industry and the future of the web

By Justin Sherman

The private sector plays a crucial role in defining the changing shape of the Internet, especially its security. This report examines two protocols as examples of private sector influence over presently vulnerable systems key to the Internet’s function: the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), used to route Internet traffic, and the Domain Name System (DNS), used to address Internet traffic.

Cybersecurity Internet

BelarusAlert

Oct 4, 2020

Belarus protest crackdown sparks IT industry exodus

By Peter Dickinson

The Lukashenka regime's hard line response to unprecedented pro-democracy protests in Belarus is sparking an alarming exodus within the country's vibrant and economically important IT industry.

Belarus Democratic Transitions

Inflection Points

Oct 4, 2020

How Beijing gains from Trump’s COVID struggles and US electoral dysfunctions

By Frederick Kempe

Chinese officials will embrace this period as additional, welcome “breathing space” to escalate their ongoing efforts across a range of fronts to build upon their momentum – from tightening party control over the Chinese private sector, to the accelerated development of a digital currency, to closing remaining technology gaps with the United States.

China Elections

Experts

Events