Australian Strategic Policy Institute: Tech diplomacy–what it is, and why it’s important

We need to get used to a new concept in international security: tech diplomacy. It means technological collaboration across sectors and between countries, but the simplicity of the idea shouldn’t disguise its importance.

Tech diplomacy is a key tool to ensure that US allies and partners, including Australia, can stay ahead of or keep up with the pacing threat of adversaries, notably China, that are also seeking technological leadership.

It also offers opportunities for commercialisation and the establishment of the rules and norms that govern uses.

Technology lies at the heart of geostrategic competition between China and the US. The US and its allies need to secure advantages in emerging technologies to meet ongoing and rapidly evolving national security imperatives…

Independent initiatives, notably the launch of the Tech Diplomacy Academy (TDA) by the Krach Institute at Purdue University in the United States on 30 April 2024, signal the importance of integrating technological, commercial and foreign-policy expertise to guide the trajectory of trusted tech towards advancing freedom, security and prosperity worldwide.

The TDA is an online education platform poised to revolutionise how government, business, tech and civil society leaders are trained at scale on critical and emerging technologies and how to compete and lead in a contested technological and geopolitical landscape. The US government’s support for the initiative (the State Department has announced its adoption of the TDA) affirms the importance of equipping government officials with the knowledge and tools needed to support critical and technology industries and to ensure allied leadership in those sectors.

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