Analysis | The United States needs a tech diplomacy strategy
The strategy should include the appointment of an “ambassador at large” for technology issues.
Earlier this year, Denmark became one of the first countries in the world to release a tech diplomacy strategy.
The strategy comes at a time when governments across the world are clashing with “Big Tech.” On the one hand, democratic governments are seeking to mitigate the threat that digital technologies pose to the fabric of their societies, as the EU’s announcement of its Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) demonstrates. On the other, authoritarian governments like Russia and China are further cracking down on tech companies and using digital surveillance tools to limit opposition voices and further cement their rule. The coming years will be critical to define global rules and norms on digital speech, surveillance, internet governance, the digital economy, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), among other issues.
To ensure a leading role in this effort, the United States should develop its own tech diplomacy strategy. This strategy should include the appointment of a U.S. tech ambassador at large and should be centered on close transatlantic cooperation.
The rise of TechPlomacy
Recent events have demonstrated the need for a comprehensive Technology Diplomacy Strategy. From reports that several U.S. social media companies took down posts of government critics in India, to the Burmese military’s use of Facebook to incite ethnic violence, the power of digital technologies and the companies that control them is increasingly a cause for concern.
The Danish government has led the field in making technology policy a core diplomatic objective. In 2017, it became the first country in the world to appoint a tech ambassador, with offices in Silicon Valley, Brussels, and Beijing — three regional hubs that are already shaping the international technology order, albeit in different ways. Unlike traditional diplomats, the ambassador’s work is not limited to one country or international organization, but on issues that connect tech hubs globally.
In its tech diplomacy strategy, Denmark outlines its efforts to achieve “a more just, democratic and safe technological future.” The strategy rests on three pillars — responsibility, democracy, and security — and charts Denmark’s priorities on issues including digital taxation and the digital economy, data privacy, social media influence operations, and cybersecurity.
The call for tech ambassadors is not new. Others have pointed out that the leading tech companies possess “country-like” powers that warrant high-level diplomatic attention. And about a dozen countries have already followed Denmark’s model and appointed tech ambassadors. So far, the United States has not followed suit.
But the appointment of a U.S. tech ambassador is not an end in itself. It should be part of a comprehensive tech diplomacy strategy that provides a roadmap for how a U.S. tech ambassador would engage with tech companies and other governments to shape the global technology order according to U.S. interests and values.
What should define a U.S. tech diplomacy strategy?
First, the strategy should be comprehensive. It should outline the United States’ objectives on key emerging technology issues ranging from 5G, AI, cybersecurity, data protection and privacy, and digital surveillance. All of these issues are interconnected, but current U.S. government efforts to address them are too compartmentalized.
For example, the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues primarily deals with cybersecurity and does not address how these issues interact with AI and privacy. Similarly, the Global Engagement Center leads the government’s response to (online) disinformation but does not deal with the tech policy issues driving the spread of disinformation. The proposed, bipartisan Cyber Diplomacy Act seeks to reorganize the State Department’s cyber office and to elevate its head to the level of an ambassador. This recommendation is a good starting point, but this new post should be a U.S. tech ambassador at large who holds responsibilities that extend beyond cybersecurity, and who coordinates with other initiatives such as the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office, launched by the Trump administration.
U.S. presidents have appointed ambassadors at large for a number of issues in the past. These ambassadors are not stationed in a specific country but rather represent the U.S. government on specific issues that transcend national boundaries — there are currently ambassadors at large on global women’s issues and international religious freedom, for example.
Second, a U.S. tech diplomacy strategy should focus on transatlantic cooperation. The EU is already pressing ahead to set global technology standards, including through the DSA and the DMA and its recently published AI strategy, and several EU member states, including France, have now prepared digital or technology strategies. If the United States wants to help set the global tech agenda, it should closely cooperate with the EU. A good start would be to accept the EU’s invitation to join an EU-U.S. Technology Council, where a U.S. tech ambassador would take a leading role. Close cooperation with the EU would also ensure that standards for the use of emerging technologies are grounded in democratic, rather than authoritarian values.
Third, as the Biden administration seeks to reinvigorate U.S. diplomacy and the Foreign Service, it should create pathways for a new corps of diplomats that can carry out its tech diplomacy strategy. The State Department should create a specialist track within the Foreign Service specifically for tech diplomacy and recruit people with a technology policy background.
Finally, the Biden administration should develop its tech diplomacy strategy in coordination with its plan for a Global Summit for Democracy. Biden has already announced that this summit will “issue a call to action for the private sector, including technology companies and social media giants” to recognize their responsibility in protecting democracy in the digital age. This call to action should be spearheaded by a U.S. Tech Ambassador, in cooperation with other countries’ tech diplomats.
Digital technologies present challenges and opportunities to U.S. foreign policy and national security interests. To meet these challenges and seize these opportunities, the United States needs to formulate a coherent policy on how it seeks to shape global technology rules and standards. The Biden administration should start right away.
Jonas Heering is a research assistant at ISD. He is also the Bunker graduate fellow in diplomacy, and a master’s student in the School of Foreign Service.
