REMIT’s consortium partner ECCRI (European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative) has contributed to an upcoming book on digital technologies with a chapter on critical and emerging technologies. Chapter author, REMIT researcher Jakob Bund presents key findings during a book launch panel in The Hague on 13 November 2024, as part of the 2024 Conference on International Cyber Security convened by The Hague Program on International Cyber Security.
Bund, Senior Research for Cyber Conflict and Statecraft, ECCRI says of the book: “The rhetoric and partial practice of de-risking supply chains in key technology areas have put the governance of emerging disruptive technologies under the shadow of a descending silicon curtain and the impending weaponisation of interdependence. These scenarios bring into sharp relief that policy decisions around the design, development, distribution, and deployment of emerging technologies can develop far-reaching disruptive qualities. Given the potential to widen rather than close the digital divide, these state actions require systematic analysis to better understand their influence on technological fragmentation.“
To facilitate this analysis, Jakob Bund proposes a framework for a structured understanding of state approaches to technology in this contribution to the book project “Emerging and Disruptive Digital Technologies,” prepared by the EU Cyber Direct. The chapter is part of a rich volume discussing the national, regional, global ramifications of alignments and tension in these approaches.
Abstract
This chapter develops an overview of the global political debate concerning strategic digital technologies through a review of two sets of state documents. First, the paper assesses national strategy papers (drawing on technology and digitalisation strategies, and digital foreign policy documents) to establish a set of baselines: Which aspects of digital technologies do states consider strategic? How are associated risks and potentials characterised? And how do these interpretations compare for strategic competitors and coalitions of like-minded states? To identify differences in how strategies dealing with critical and emerging technologies are framed in outreach to domestic and international audiences, this paper then compares positions from these national flagship documents with individual country submissions to consultations for the United Nations (UN) Global Digital Compact (GDC) during June 2022 and April 2023.
Based on this comparative analysis, this paper identifies four recurring strategic approaches: (1) exploratory framings focused on developing technological potential; (2) consultatory framings aimed at fostering cooperation in the development and deployment of technologies; (3) regulatory framings intended to define opportunities in the use of technologies; and (4) protective framings centred on managing access to the technologies and underlying know-how to control risks.
By identifying cases of potentially disruptive strategy framings, the paper seeks to illustrate differences in risk perspectives and to clarify potential hurdles for multilateral and multi-stakeholder engagements.
Full Citation
Jakob Bund, “Adopting and Adapting to Disruption: How States Strategise Critical and Emerging Technologies,” in Lise H. Andersen, Dennis Broeders, and Raluca Csernatoni (eds.) Emerging and Disruptive Digital Technologies – National, Regional, and Global Perspectives, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2815/974075
