About Us

From 2019-2021, then-Under Secretary of State Keith Krach executed a historic diplomatic initiative to build the Clean Network, a group of 60 countries (representing approximately two-thirds of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP)), more than 200 telecommunications companies, and dozens of other industry-leading companies. All entities in the Clean Network are committed to keeping untrusted technologies, such as those manufactured by Huawei, the backbone of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) surveillance state, out of their national telecommunications networks.[ii] This initiative has been taught as a case study at Harvard Business School.

[ii] Michael Mink, “How the Clean Network Alliance of Democracies Turned the Tide on Huawei in 5G,” Life & News Online Edition, December 2, 2020, https://www.lifeandnews.com/articles/how-the-clean-network-alliance-of-democracies-turned-the-tide-on-huawei-in-5g/.

Former President Kersti Kaljulaid accelerated Estonia’s post-1991 commitment to digitizing its society for the benefit of all Estonians. Wired has described “e-Stonia” as “the world’s most digitally advanced society,” reflecting not only the vast array of digital services Estonia offers to its citizens, but the country’s commitment to trusted technologies. [iii] Kaljulaid’s experience is all the more valuable as Estonia has consistently been a target of Russian cyber aggression since its independence.

[iii] Matt Reynolds, “Welcome to E-stonia, the world’s most digitally advanced society,” Wired, October 20, 2016, https://www.wired.com/story/digital-estonia/.

GTSC Commissioner for India Harsh Shringla previously served as India’s Ambassador to the U.S. (2019-2020), India’s Foreign Secretary (2020-2022), and Chief Coordinator for India’s G20 Presidency in 2023. Under Shringla’s leadership, India made technological transformation and digital public infrastructure a flagship priority of its G20 Presidency, producing the groundbreaking G20 High-Level Principles to Support Businesses in Building Safety, Security, Resilience, and Trust in the Digital Economy. His work helped strengthen the ties between the world’s two largest democracies at a time when a strong U.S.-India relationship is more important than ever for advancing a world of trusted technologies.

GTSC Commissioner for Taiwan Audrey Tang, the former and first-ever Minister of Digital Affairs of Taiwan (R.O.C.) from 2022 to 2024, has been called one of the “ten greatest Taiwanese computing personalities.” Her work as Digital Minister focused on leveraging technology to help the Taiwanese government function more effectively. Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, both Global Tech Security Commission Members, also provide an unmatched perspective on geopolitical issues.

During her time as the Head of Trust Strategy and Marketing at DocuSign, Heather Petersen helped established the xDTM Standard Association, a consortium of leaders in digital transaction management. The Association’s mission, over two years, was to develop a set of best practices for digital transactions in a new era of cloud services. Providers were asked to address security, assurance, privacy, validity, availability, scalability, universality, and interoperability as indicators of trust. DocuSign announced its compliance with the xDTM standard in 2016, and the standard received endorsements from FedEx, Intel, Dow Jones, NBC Universal, Visa, and over 300 other major companies. As Jim Hagemann Snabe, board member at the World Economic Forum, remarked, “The xDTM Standard has enhanced the quality of digital transactions and digital signatures around the world.”

Then-Under Secretary Krach designed and executed the 2020 landmark agreement that led the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to establish a new $12 billion chip fabrication facility (fab) in the U.S. at a time when America did not possess a single fab on its shores. Since the inception of that facility, the largest onshoring project in U.S. history at the time, TSMC has now invested more than $65 billion in three semiconductor plants in the U.S., and companies such as Micron, Intel, and others have decided to build and diversify their operations in the U.S., Japan, and Germany. In 2024, South Korea’s SK Hynix invested $4 billion to build a fabrication facility at Purdue’s Research Park, the largest economic development project in Indiana’s history.

In 2019, while serving as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs, Krach Institute chief executive Michelle Giuda led and executed the largest restructuring within the State Department in twenty years to modernize and dramatically improve the ability of the U.S. to leverage modern communications technologies in its diplomatic efforts, and to effectively compete with adversaries in the information space.

Global Tech Security Commissioner for Education, Henry Stoever, the former President and CEO of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, formed the Council on Higher Education as a Strategic Asset (HESA) to strengthen the global competitive position of the United States through education. Comprised of more than 60 leaders from business, government, nonprofit organizations, education, and the military, HESA has developed recommendations for the President of the United States of America, members of the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Secretary of Education, state governors and legislators, and higher education governing boards and chief executive officers.

The Commission enjoys a tremendous differentiating advantage in having Purdue University as its home base. Purdue is a world-class research institution with a 155-year history of producing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) graduates equipped to understand—and shape— trends in cutting-edge technologies. Purdue is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the 10 most innovative colleges in America,[iv] by IPWatchdog Institute as a top three leader in startup creation,[v] and by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a top-five leader in the U.S. for patents.[vi] Even more importantly to the Commission’s work, Purdue’s leaders understand the nature of the battle between the free world and authoritarianism and are committed to leading the development of the technologies and the workforce necessary to protect freedom, prosperity, and national security.

Under the leadership of President Mung Chiang, former Science and Technology Advisor at the U.S. State Department, Purdue marries its legacy as a hub for cutting-edge scientific research with a practical understanding of how technology must support national and international security, innovation and prosperity.

• Purdue has taken the lead in forging global partnerships devoted to research and development to serve trusted technology ends:
  • Purdue and Belgium-based imec, a crown jewel of chips innovation in Europe, have opened an R&D hub on Purdue’s campus.
  • During the 2023 meeting of G-7 nations in Japan, Purdue and Hiroshima University signed an inter-university agreement to promote academic and educational exchanges.
  • In May 2023, Purdue agreed to partner with the Indian government in skilled workforce development and joint research and innovation in the burgeoning fields of semiconductors and microelectronics. In March 2024, Purdue President Mung Chiang traveled to Costa Rica to strengthen semiconductor partnerships.
  • In July 2024, Indiana-based Heartland BioWorks, of which Purdue is a member, received $51 million in federal funding to support workforce development in Indiana’s biotechnology ecosystem.
  • The partnership between Purdue and leading South Korean semiconductor manufacturing firm SK hynix was awarded $450 million in direct support for high-bandwidth-memory production and advanced packaging research and development at a planned Purdue Research Park facility in West Lafayette.
  • The Applied Research Institute (ARI) of Indiana granted funding to Purdue to advance artificial intelligence hardware through the Microelectronic Commons program in collaboration with the Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons Hub, one of eight national hubs funded by the federal CHIPS and Science Act.
  • The Purdue Applied Research Institute (PARI) is devoted to meeting urgent needs in national security, infrastructure and global development. Its research areas include hypersonic technologies, microelectronics, energetics and infrastructure materials.
  • Purdue is the first institution in the United States offering a dedicated master’s degree program in semiconductor engineering, reflecting the school’s commitment to addressing the growing need for skilled professionals in semiconductor technology in the U.S. and allied countries.
  • Part of the Discovery Park District family of centers and institutes, Purdue’s Birck Nanotechnology Center, a 186,000-square-foot facility that features a 25,000-square-foot cleanroom laboratory for nanofabrication, is at the heart of developing technologies essential for U.S. and allied security. Birck’s SCALE partnership also brings together 29 universities and 59 defense industry and government entities to develop curriculum and internship and training models.
  • The university’s groundbreaking computer science and engineering strategic initiative, Purdue Computes, educates tech innovators needed to maintain U.S. leadership in critical fields of economic and national security, including AI, semiconductors, and quantum science and engineering.

These examples and others are case studies of effectiveness that serve as the foundation for the Global Tech Security Commission’s thinking and recommendations.

[iv] “The 10 Most Innovative Colleges in America,” US News & World Report, September 24, 2024, https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/innovative.

[v] Cynthia Sequin, “Purdue Ranked 3rd Nationally in Startup Creation,” Purdue University News, April 28, 2020, https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/archive/releases/2020/Q2/purdue-ranked-3rd-nationally-in-startup-creation.html.

[vi] Polly Barks, “Boilermaker Research Demonstrates Excellence at Scale: Purdue Ranks in Top 5 in U.S. for U.S. Patents Received,” Purdue University News, February 15, 2024, https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/2024/Q1/boilermaker-research-demonstrates-excellence-at-scale-purdue-ranks-in-top-5-in-u-s-for-u-s-patents-received.