tech

I grandi attori del mondo tech avranno sempre più potere. Il loro impatto sociale e politico sarà difficilmente controllabile.

Tech giants will gain more and more power. Their social and political impact will be difficult to predict and control.

On the one hand, there is a consensus that digital transitions bring great benefits socially and economically and should be distributed more widely and evenly across the globe. On the other hand, there is also a consensus that digital transitions have the potential for great harm and should be subject to agreed global constraints and regulations. To complete a triangulation, it is clear that COVID has reinforced and accelerated both propensities.

L'autonomia strategica UE passa anche attraverso la sovranità digitale. Un'analisi degli degli sviluppi normativi dell'Unione sul tema.

Thanks to the successful adoption of the UN Open Ended Working Group (OEWG)’s final report in March and the conclusion of the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE)’s final report at the end of May, scholars, experts, and diplomats are rightfully rejoicing. Multilateralism is alive and kicking, especially around sensitive issues such as cyber ones.

Cyberspace has turned into the “fifth dimension of conflictuality” and, as such, has been sanctioned both by countries’ national cyber security strategies and by international organizations alike. In particular, NATO recognizes cyberspace as a domain for military operations wherein it is possible to trigger collective defense mechanisms in the event of hostile actions.

The prevailing analogy for the cyber domain, specifically conflict therein, is that of the Wild West.  Over the last decade, the world has witnessed the dizzying expansion of cyber conflict. Malicious actors’ recognition that weaponizing cyberspace provides asymmetric benefits over traditional, kinetic domains has only been assisted by the ballooning of digital products and services that introduce additional cyber vulnerabilities.

The unprecedented number of cyber-attacks that have rocked some of the world’s biggest companies and government agencies over the last few years makes cyber diplomacy one of the most urgent issues of the century.

However, catching up to disruptive technologies while curbing military escalation in cyberspace presents both opportunities and obstacles.

In recent years, the digital world has emerged as a new domain of human activity, bringing with it unprecedented opportunities and global connectivity. As the world continues to progress through this period of digital transformations — including closing a digital divide where nearly half of the world’s population has yet to connect to the Internet — societies everywhere are realizing the benefits of increased connectivity via information and communication technologies (ICTs).

The 2015 launch of China’s Digital Silk Road — and subsequent concerns around the cybersecurity risks associated with Chinese vendors’ network gear — have prompted US and European policymakers to turn their eyes to China’s footprint in Africa’s digital infrastructure.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected countries globally regardless of regime type.  Nonetheless, for an extended period throughout this pandemic, non-democratic regimes seemed to have performed better than  democracies.