technology

Technology will transform how we meet our needs for peace, dignity and community. This will shatter the global political equilibrium, and shift power away from governments towards individuals. States, ideas and industries will go out of business. Inequality could grow. [...] For the first time, technology gives the prospect of the world’s population having an instant, global and unfiltered means of communicating, of consuming information, of forming opinions, preferences and communities.

The top firms in California's Silicon Valley carry more weight on the global stage than many countries, which makes building diplomatic relations with them increasingly important, the world's first national technology ambassador said. Chosen to fill what his country's foreign ministry has dubbed the first "techplomacy" posting on the U.S. West Coast, Denmark's Casper Klynge will be tasked with building direct ties between his country and the likes of Facebook, Apple and Alphabet's Google.

Google has unveiled four measures it will use to tackle the spread of terror-related material online. Among the measures it is deploying will be smarter software that can spot extremist material and greater use of human experts to vet content. [...] In addition, it said, it would work with Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter to establish an industry body that would produce technology other smaller companies could use to police problematic content.

Women in Diplomacy Podcast

Kelsey Suemnicht on what she has learned from contributors to her Women in Diplomacy podcast and how it can help future public diplomats.

Forget that fancy word ‘smart city’. A country or community must have uninterrupted electricity 24 hours a day, clean water, knowledge of agricultural pattern to grow crops through the year and no wastage of water. Securing these few resources (water and energy in the form of food and electricity) are essential for sustainable living.It’s when a community does not have these resources that migration to regions occur triggering a domino effect of over population, and a high pressured race to grab resource now under supplied. 

The successful launch of the South Asian Satellite from Sriharikota onboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) on Friday not only reiterated the technological prowess of India’s space agency, but was also a landmark in science diplomacy in the region. This is the first time a communication satellite built and launched by India will be put to the common use of South Asian countries. 

Clingendael's Jan Melissen and Emillie de Keulenaar on the urgency of going digital.

An app that connects global publics to performing arts.

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