We champion positive paths forward that nations, economies, and societies can pursue to ensure new technologies and data empower people, increase prosperity, and secure peace. Without reservation, these common principles represent the bedrock of the work the Atlantic Council does around the world. Equally important, new technologies and data should advance these principles globally.
The Atlantic Council GeoTech Center encourages global tech collaborations, evaluates good tech choices as well as measurable policy alternatives, and educates world leaders and the public on issues related to global tech competition.
Galvanizing GeoTech action
Future of work
Firstly, certain inventions, such as the assembly line, both benefited societies and required new laws to protect individuals from an asymmetrical distribution of power—for example, unsafe working conditions. The Future of Work will require new ways of collaborating across societies so that all people can evaluate, accept, and receive benefit from new technologies.
Future of data
Secondly, informed choices can shape behaviors that, over time, become ‘sticky’ habits across societies. As a result, these repetitive habits inculcate norms. A central issue for the Future of Data is the ability of individuals and societies to choose how we want to reshape norms and distribute power in our communities.
Future of trust
Thirdly, we are now witnessing widening polarization and mistrust within societies. In part this is because new technologies, once developed, are difficult to regulate even if they prove disruptive to social cohesion, market operations, and institutional trust. The Future of Trust depends on us building bridges across different tech, commerce, and community sectors, thereby enabling the examination of the prospective effects of new technologies and greater control by society.
Future of space
Fourthly, as space becomes the new frontier to be explored by national governments and private sector interests, the Future of Space requires us to develop initiatives that benefit people, prosperity, and peace while working to deter actions and policies that do not promote these values for all nations.
Future of health
Fifthly, we are now in an era where we can change our genes and biological processes that regulate our bodies. The Future of Health requires new abilities for understanding and regulating technologies at a pace that matches the speed by which personalize medicine and other bio-related technologies are advancing.
The next generation of technological change will have a more dramatic impact on how individuals live and work, how economies operate and how nations interact than any that has come before it.
GeoTech Commission
We must transform how we make choices regarding technology and data, both locally and globally. Thus, the Atlantic Council GeoTech Commission recommends policy actions to ensure the most beneficial outcomes for people, prosperity, and peace. This is necessary because we must overcome significant challenges in distinguishing good from bad choices. We also must ensure people and societies are informed on key questions, such as:
- How can either societies or markets characterize new technologies and data choices regarding measurable benefits to people, prosperity, and peace?
- In what ways can more beneficial new technologies and data choices be incentivized, with attention to either policy or business approaches?
- How can overall adoption of beneficial new technologies and data initiatives be accelerated regionally, nationally, and globally?
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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Teresa Carlson
Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services
Teresa Carlson leads the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Worldwide Public Sector business, which includes state, local, central and regional governments; educational institutions and Ed Techs, and nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and acts as an advisor to Amazon Public Policy on global policy issues.
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Commissioners
Vint Cerf
Vice President 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, 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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Paul Daugherty
Group Chief Executive of Technology Services and Chief Technology Officer, Accenture Technology Innovation & Ecosystem Group
Paul Daugherty is a leading authority on the technology innovations shaping the future of business and society. In his role as Accenture’s Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Paul predicts the future, sets Accenture’s technology strategy and directs its technology research and development, ventures and ecosystem relationships to incubate the next wave of technology businesses. As the founder of Accenture’s businesses in Cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain and other emerging technologies, Paul advises the world’s top business and technology leaders on how to apply technology to reimagine and reinvent their organizations’ futures.
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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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Philippe Gillet
Chief Science Officer, SICPA
Philippe Gillet is currently Chief Scientific Officer at SICPA and a Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) where he was also VP of Academic Affairs, President ad Interim and Director of the Human Brain project for two years. Before EPFL, he served as Chief of Staff of the French Minister for Higher Education and Research – Mrs Valérie Pécresse. Prior to that, Philippe was Director of the CNRS Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers, President of the French synchrotron facility SOLEIL, of the French National Research Agency and Director of Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon.
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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 the Administration of five US Presidents
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 Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy, and in 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 2000, he served as Vice-Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorism, also known as the Bremer Commission. In 2002, he was a member of the Task Force Report No. 40 of the Council on Foreign Relations called Terrorist Financing. 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.
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Philippe Amon
Chairman and Chief Executive Office, SICPA Holding SA
Philippe Amon is the Chairman and CEO of SICPA, which develops technologies to provide security, traceability, and authentication for currencies, documents, and products across the globe. He is also a member of the Atlantic Council’s International Advisory Board.
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GeoTech Partners
The Atlantic Council’s GeoTech efforts succeed in light of our wide range of Partners. Above all, our Partners embody the collaborative, multi-faceted work that we do. Together, we champion positive paths forward for new technologies and data globally.
Accenture
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The Rockefeller Foundation
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Amazon Web Services
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SICPA
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UAE National Program for Artificial Intelligence
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Carnegie Mellon University
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GeoTech Center
Because our future depends on our choices today, we work to illuminate for world leaders how new technologies and data can benefit people, prosperity, and peace. As a result of our mission, our focus at the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center includes the global, national, and economic impacts of data and machine learning, personalized medicine, additive manufacturing, nanotechnology, green energy, commercialization of space, robotics, synthetic biology, and other new technologies on the horizon. The Center’s overall activities include:
- Identifying public and private sector choices affecting the use of new technologies and data that explicitly benefit people, prosperity, and peace.
- Recommending positive paths forward to help markets and societies adapt in light of technology- and data-induced changes.
- Determining priorities for future investment and cooperation between public and private sector entities seeking to develop new technologies and data initiatives specifically for global benefit.
Team
Fellows
Equally important, our GeoTech Fellows possess a wide spectrum of expertise across different fields. They also represent a diversity of backgrounds and experiences. In addition, some of our Fellows are jointly appointed with other Centers and Initiatives at the Council.
Activities, Videos, and Analyses
AI & China: Smart Partnerships for Global Challenges
Smart Partnerships for Global Challenges: Report Recaps
The Atlantic Council is honored to partner with the Rockefeller Foundation via a grant focused on data and AI efforts by China around the world. We started these activities in the middle of 2019 and they were part of a bigger plan to launch the new Atlantic Council GeoTech Center in 2020 — focused on the geopolitics of new technologies and advances in data.
Tech Cooperation at a Precarious Junction
From the Smart Partnerships Series: Summary of the Paris Roundtable on AI — September 16-17, 2019
AI & China: Europe’s Third Way
From the Smart Partnerships Series: Summary of the Brussels Roundtable on China & AI — October 16, 2019
The Price of Great Power Politics
From the Smart Partnerships Series: Summary of the Berlin Roundtable on China & AI — November 7, 2019
The Dangers of Decoupling
From the Smart Partnerships Series: Summary of the roundtables in China on AI and Sino-US Relations — January, 2020
Artificial Intelligence Principles: Avoiding Catastrophe
Technology usually races ahead of efforts to control it. With AI, driving the technology revolution, the gap threatens to be exponential, however there is a growing consensus among major actors on the need for ethics and principles, as this brief explains. The challenge is how to codify and operationalize core principles to avert potential catastrophes.
Will Data & AI Cripple or Leapfrog Developing Nations’ Growth?
As has occurred with mobile phones, data and AI holds the potential to integrate a nexus of technologies enabling less-developed nations to leapfrog into the knowledge economy. Some members of society have dystopian fears that advances in data and AI may impede development and increase inequality. In contrast, rapidly digitizing less-developed states are deploying advances in data and AI to modernize healthcare, disaster-relief, finance and agriculture. A key question is: Can they obtain the human and financial resources, and achieve adequate governance to scale it up?
AI & China: Changing the Narrative
The cynical narrative towards China coming out of Washington has turned public opinion and influenced the Department of Defense to interpret every Chinese action as an escalation. Will Silicon Valley’s AI giants, working across borders and alongside Chinese counterparts, seize the opportunity to raise their voice and balance this narrative?
GeoTech Activities:
COVID-19, technological innovation, and the future of societies
In order to understand future trends in technology and geopolitics, a group of experts was polled about how COVID-19 and technological innovation will shape the future of societies and their respective forms of government.
Foresight and democracy during a period of growing polarization, turbulence, and misinformation
On April 23, 2020 — Sheila Ronis, Leon Fuerth, Lin Wells, and David Bray held a live virtual roundtable on the topic of “Foresight and Democracy During a Period of Growing Polarization, Turbulence, and Misinformation?”
Design choices of Central Bank Digital Currencies will transform digital payments and geopolitics
In this analysis, the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center examines the geopolitical implications of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and calls for the United States to lead on setting standards for CBDC and financial technology.
Earth Day 2020 call for action: Mitigating the global food crises associated with COVID-19
At the beginning of April, the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center published an data-driven analysis examining “Global food security during COVID-19”. This follow-up report dives into three specific food security concerns informed by that data and presents three solutions that world leaders can implement now to get ahead of the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the global food supply.
COVID-19 might accelerate or change previous AI adoption strategies
The COVID-19 pandemic may be a force that changes how the economies of the United States, Canada, and members of the European Union all use AI. Because of serious supply chain problems in Asia, many firms will restructure complex supplier networks or make them more redundant. In many cases, this will mean building up their use of AI and machine learning in home-nation plants.
Can tech companies embody global values and ride to the rescue?
Tech companies have the resources to help us better manage this pandemic. If you are a leader of tech company today, what could be of greater benefit to your company than a healthy population, a revitalized global economy, and new international capabilities to fight this crisis, and the next one?
COVID-19’s potential impact on global technology and data innovation
Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center submitted a questionnaire to more than 100 technology experts to record their expectations about the impact of COVID-19 on innovation in five key fields: the future of work, data and AI, trust and supply chains, space commercialization, and health and medicine.
5G’s geopolitics solvable by improving routing protocols vs. modern threats
Having performed a deeper dive over the last few months into the issues surrounding 5G, the GeoTech Center proposes to world policymakers that the geopolitical tensions associated with 5G, as well as other geopolitical cybersecurity-related concerns, can be solved by improving routing protocols against modern threats.
Pandemic may replace the nation-state: But with what?
Ultimately, while the world responds to COVID-19, a key question for world leaders is whether 2020 be the year that COVID-19 re-empowered national sovereignty—or is it the year that nation-states proved ineffective in responding to the pandemic, and citizens from around the world opted instead for something different that spans geography?
We can build an immune system for the planet
Our approaches for pathogen detection & antigen development are too slow. Using high-speed computers, biosensors, and the Internet, we can universalize and automate the process for pathogen detection and antigen development, such that we can automatically sense an abnormal pathogen and immediately start synthesizing in a computer’s memory techniques to mitigate it. Once an abnormal pathogen is detected, we can automate the antigen development (e.g., phages, e. coli that eat other e. coli, and more) to have a solution ready much faster for possible use than conventional means. We can build an auto-immune system for the planet.
Getting ahead of the crisis: How the post-COVID era will reshape societies, economies, and geopolitics
On April 08, 2020 — Bob Gourley, Co-Founder of OODAloop and Director David Bray, Atlantic Council GeoTech Center Director participated in a video discussion on how the post-COVID era will reshape societies, economies, and geopolitics.
Addressing the procurement mismatch of necessary equipment during COVID-19
On April 08, 2020 — Nova Spivack, Co-Founder of Valence Medical and and David Bray, Atlantic Council GeoTech Center Director participated in a video discussion centered around “Addressing the Procurement Mismatch of Necessary Equipment During COVID-19”.
Getting ahead of the crisis: COVID-19’s impact on societies, economies, tech, data, and geopolitics
On March 31, 2020 — Bob Gourley, Co-Founder of OODAloop and Director David Bray, Atlantic Council GeoTech Center Director participated in a video discussion on COVID-19’s impact on societies, economies, tech, data, and geopolitics.
Getting ahead of the crisis: Global food security during COVID-19
Much has been written about the economic consequences of such policies; less attention, however, has been paid to emerging issues like food security in the age of a global pandemic. Food security is certainly a crucial issue because COVID-19 is also a crisis of logistics – whether it is with regard to necessary medical equipment, labor availability, or food supplies.
How Can Data Science Help With Crisis Response and COVID-19?
On March 27, 2020 — Anthony Scriffignano, Chief Data Scientist at Dun and Bradstreet and Director David Bray, Atlantic Council GeoTech Center Director participated in a live video discussion hosted by Michael Krigsman, Founder of CxOTalk on “How Can Data Science Help With Crisis Responses?”
How Can Tech Help With Crisis Responses?
On March 26, 2020 — Matthew Putman, CEO Nanotronics and Director David Bray, Atlantic Council GeoTech Center Director participated in a live video discussion hosted by Michael Krigsman, Founder of CxOTalk on “How Can Tech Help With Crisis Responses?”
What Lessons Can We Learn About COVID-19 From Responding to Other Outbreaks?
On March 16, 2020 — the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center Director, David Bray, did a live video discussion with Singularity University on the topic of “What Lessons Can We Learn About COVID-19 From Responding to Other Outbreaks?”
Pandemic Survival Strategies: A Leadership Guide for Organizations Wanting to Weather the COVID-19 Storm
This guide is about good leadership in turbulent environments. If we act smart and if we are willing to invest in each other, we may all come out of this situation faster — and potentially stronger.
GeoTech Launch
GeoTech Center and Commission Launch on 11 March 2020. Focused efforts on determining priorities for future investment and cooperation between public and private sector entities seeking to develop new technologies and data initiatives specifically for global benefit.
Commission Meetings
On-going, private deliberations of the GeoTech Commissioners. Focused efforts on how can either societies or markets characterize new technologies and data choices regarding measurable benefits to people, prosperity, and peace.
Data Salon Series
Data Salon Series on improving the State of Data Governance with experts from across sectors. Focused discussions on the Future of Work, Data, Trust, Space, and Health.
New technologies and data are tools. It is upon the choices we make, both as individuals and as communities, that ensure that they are used as a force for good in the world.
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