Over the last dozen or so months, the events we’ve witnessed were crystal clear – emerging and disruptive technologies have become an area of the most dogged rivalry between the great powers. The competition is mostly revolving around two centres of gravity – the United States and the People’s Republic of China – but is felt throughout value chains, and may well lead to outcomes that upend the world (digital and non-digital alike) in the form of, on the one hand, decoupling of technological supply chains, and on the other, the Splinternet.
The leaders in America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia are speaking openly today about digital sovereignty and technological autonomy, while analysts and international observers are warning that the spectre of digital world split into contending blocs led by two superpowers, the USA and the PRC, is becoming hauntingly real. Today, global technology governance processes are the area of world-changing geopolitical struggle. To be able to find their way in this ever faster evolving landscape of shifts and threats, democratic societies in Europe and the world over need first and foremost to understand in depth the nature of challenges stemming from the consequences that technological development has for politics and international security.
For this reason, The Kosciuszko Institute and CYBERSEC team together with a group of outstanding experts have prepared a report which overviews and analyses the geopolitical role of crucial digital technologies. Convinced that wise decisions and effective actions must be preceded by establishing a picture of social reality that is apt and as accurate as possible and by heightening the awareness of changes under way, we are handing over to you one of the first expert reports dedicated to this issue.
We sincerely hope that it shall be the seed of numerous discussions which will only help decision-makers successfully navigate this ever more complicated world in which geopolitics of emerging and disruptive technologies is occupying a more and more central role.
