Co-Chairs
The key to securing freedom for the next generation is securing technology. Tomorrow’s tech must be trusted tech developed and protected by a Global Trust Network of like-minded countries, companies, and individuals who respect the rule of law, human rights, labor practices, national sovereignty, and the environment.
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We will win. But for us to safely mine the technology pool created by the great minds of our private sector companies, we have to have standards, agreements. Nobody must be able to blow up what we trust in technology, and for that indeed we need the Global Tech Security Commission.
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“The Global Tech Security Commission is an important effort to support our national defense and secure American prosperity against our great power competitors in the tech domain,” said Senator Ernst. “The Commission’s work will provide a roadmap for America’s present-day and next-generation workforce to develop, employ, and secure critical technologies.”
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“As the United States incentivizes investments in emerging technologies, we must ensure that our advances are not undermined by domestic threats or anti-democratic, authoritarian regimes like those in China, Russia, and Iran. These foreign adversaries have made it clear that they are willing to leverage technology to breach United States institutions, steal intellectual property, collect data on American citizens, and access the systems that control our critical infrastructure…”
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“The Chinese Communist Party and other authoritarian regimes are leveraging critical and emerging technologies in order to challenge freedom and security around the world. The 21st century will therefore largely be defined by how the United States and our partner nations respond to these grave and gathering threats. I commend the Global Tech Security Commission for developing a global strategy for technology security that meets these rising challenges…”
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“I am proud to be an honorary co-chair of the GTSC. I greatly appreciate the visionary leadership of my fellow former Under Secretary of State, Keith Krach, as the GTSC engages in the critical and urgent work of developing a global strategy for combating techno-authoritarianism and building ties of technological trust…”
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“Countering the Chinese Communist Party’s techno-authoritarianism by developing and harnessing advanced technology is one of the critical challenges of our time. I am proud to join the nonpartisan Global Tech Security Commission as an honorary co-chair to work to address this challenge…”
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“Technology will determine whether America remains a leading superpower or is eclipsed by authoritarians, like the Chinese Communist Party. It is essential for the United States to lead in technology modernization in critical sectors and protect the know-how, manufacturing capability, and capital for these vital technologies from supporting our rivals…”
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As the authoritarian regime of the Chinese Communist Party is becoming more aggressive and pursues differential advantages over the United States and our allies, it is vital that we develop and apply critical technologies to preserve peace through strength. We must also protect technologies and intellectual property from state-based espionage. I look forward to serving as Honorary Co-Chair of the Global Tech Security Commission and supporting the commission’s noble mission of protecting our nation and our allies and safeguarding freedom through trusted technology.
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“I appreciate the opportunity to join lawmakers from both chambers and both sides of the aisle to serve as an honorary co-chair on the Global Tech Security Commission. As policymakers, our actions are guided by the most up to date and accurate information available, as we look to counter China’s escalating aggression against Taiwan and democracies worldwide, and its expansive influence in our global market…”
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It is critical that the United States sends a powerful message of strength to the global community, especially in the face of global challenges posed by the Chinese Communist Party. I’m looking forward to joining the team at the Global Tech Security Commission to advise efforts to amplify this vital national security message. My work on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party supports our nation’s critical mission to deter violations of American sovereignty and transnational aggression by the CCP on our soil.
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“When focused on protecting civil rights, consumers, and democracy as a whole, advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and biomedical engineering can be used to solve some of the most daunting challenges humanity faces. It is critical that the United States work with our partners and allies to deploy these emerging technologies responsibly, secure our supply chains, and prepare our workforce. Failure to do so will pave the way for Chinese influence that could threaten human rights around the globe.”
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“It’s critical to our national security that we come together to develop solutions to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s technological rise. I’m thrilled to serve alongside fellow lawmakers on the Global Tech Security Commission to ensure we deliver recommendations that can be applied by both our government and allies around the world to ensure democracies maintain a technological edge and safeguards freedom over authoritarian adversaries.”
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“In the 21st century, a top challenge will be countering authoritarian and adversarial governments. It is crucial that we continue to build on American advancement in technology and security and I look forward to working with the Global Tech Security Commission to continue this important work.”
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“I’m honored to serve on the Global Tech Security Commission with my friend Keith Krach, my colleagues in Congress, and other national security leaders. I look forward to working with this Commission on a variety of issues critical to preserving America’s global leadership in science and technology. We have a national security imperative to ensure the United States doesn’t fall behind our adversaries in technological innovation.”
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We’re at the crest of a new wave of technologies that will deeply affect economies, societies, and the human condition. Whether those effects are positive or negative for human freedom is not predetermined. It’s therefore incumbent upon policymakers and innovators in the Free World to craft and adopt standards that ensure technology expands liberty.
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Tech Commissioners
| ERIK BETHEL Fmr U.S. Executive Director, World Bank; Managing Partner, Quad Fund Commissioner for Financial Technologies (Fintech)
MATT BLUNT
DANIEL DELAURENTIS
FRANK FANNON
DANIEL GOLDIN
MARCUS JADOTTE | TOM LUPFER President & Founder, Clarity Design, Inc. Commissioner for Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics
THOMAS SONDERMAN
ROBERT SPALDING
DAVID SPIRK
JAKE TAYLOR |
International Commissioners
| TONY ABBOTT 28th Prime Minister of Australia Commissioner for Australia
SIR IAIN DUNCAN SMITH
EYAL HULATA
KERSTI KALJULAID
JAMES KIM | KEITH KRACH Chairman and Co-Founder, Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue Co-Chair, United States of America
PAVEL POPESCU
HARSH SHRINGLA
AUDREY TANG
TADAO YANASE |
Strategy Commissioners
| THE HON. TODD CHAPMAN Former U.S. Ambassador to Brazil and Ecuador Commissioner for Diplomacy
HARRIS DIAMOND
DAVID FOGEL
ANDY GEISSE
ANDREI IANCU
COREY JOHNSTON
RICHARD KANG
MICHAEL KRATSIOS
GREG LEVESQUE
C. J. MAHONEY | DAN NEGREA Former Special Representative, U.S. State Department, Economic Bureau Commissioner for Prosperity Partnerships
GREG NELSON
NAZAK NIKAKHTAR
JOHN O’CONNOR
ROGER W. ROBINSON JR.
JIM SCHWAB
DAVID STILWELL
HENRY STOEVER
ROB STRAYER
MILES YU |
Tech Sectors
The Commission is focused on technologies that are critical to American and allied national security and foreign policy, and advocates for a global tech agenda that reflects freedom, democracy, and human rights.
Participating Countries
Techno-authoritarianism is a threat to every freedom-loving country, company, and individual. The Global Tech Security Commission is committed to bipartisan and international cooperation and solidarity to ensure that technology advances freedom.
Even as the U.S. intelligence community grew and grew, the U.S. government’s capacity to analyze and solve problems did not. Its policy side became weakly staffed and poorly trained; officials had barely been taught about policy work at all. Those who excelled had usually taught themselves. When operations were needed, contractors had to be hired, and they often just compounded the problems.
Former U.S. Department of State Counselor Philip Zelikow,
“The Atrophy of American Statecraft,” December 2023”[i]
Operational Know-How
The Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue’s Global Tech Security Commission operates from a record of proven results. Many decades of operational experience have forged the Commissioners’ understanding of how to develop transformational ideas and implement them both in the public and private sector. As a result, the Commission’s members possess a unique level of credibility for generating and, most importantly, executing on their ideas in arenas such as high-tech innovation and commercialization, government-to-government diplomacy, capital investments, corporate governance, academia, defense, and trade. The Commission’s collective expertise is a difference-maker at a time when too many government officials lack commercial and operational know-how, and too many private sector leaders are unfamiliar with how to engage in national security outside of regulatory compliance.
Below are just a few examples of how members of the Global Tech Security Commission have produced results and scalable models of tech diplomacy at the highest levels of the corporate, academic, tech, and diplomatic worlds. This track record is the basis for the findings, imperatives, Principles, and all current and future Commission outputs.
Securing Global 5G Infrastructure Through the Clean Network Alliance of Democracies:
Establishing the World’s Most Digitally Advanced Society:
Strengthening Techno-Democratic Diplomatic Ties:
Establishing Trust with Tech Standard Setting:
Onshoring Semiconductor Manufacturing:
Restructuring the Department of State for the Digital Age:
Leveraging Education as a Strategic Asset:
Delivering Excellence at Scale as a Leading National Security University:
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.
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.
We will win, but for us to safely mine the technology pool created by the great minds of our private sector companies, we have to have standards, agreements. Nobody must be able to blow up what we trust in technology, and for that indeed we need the Global Tech Security Commission.
Kersti Kaljulaid
Co-Chair, Global Tech Security Commission;
Former President of Estonia
Featured Content
Ambassador Todd Chapman, Diplomacy Commissioner on the Global Tech Security Commission, has a conversation with Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy’s Executive Producer, Thuy Vu, to discuss his work with the GTSC and the vital role he sees diplomacy play in accelerating the adoption of trusted tech.
The Chinese telecom giant Huawei and other Chinese telecom firms, like ZTE, had been poised to lead the globe in 5G technology—until the U.S. State Department embarked on a global campaign to challenge the market dominance of Chinese firms with the Clean Network program. The initiative, launched in 2020 and led by Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach, united countries and companies around a commitment to abide by a set of shared principles in technology adoption, data privacy, and security practices. Is this a new era of multilateral, democratic governance of the internet, or a “splinternet” forcing participants to choose between the U.S. and China? Krach (MBA 1981) and Harvard Business School Professor Meg Rithmire discuss how the Clean Network Program changed the competitive landscape for 5G in the case, “The Clean Network and the Future of Global Technology Competition.”