Purdue Launches Nation’s First Tech Tank Focused on Intersection of Technology and Diplomacy

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. and WASHINGTON, July 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Purdue Research Foundation today launched the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue, a new think tank at the intersection of technology and U.S. foreign policy. The Institute sees 21st century diplomacy as being uniquely driven by technology capabilities, which should advance freedom, democracy, and human rights, as well as U.S. national security and prosperity.

“Tech diplomacy is a new frontier of foreign policy, as engineering and science drive innovations crucial to national and global policies today,” says Mitch Daniels, President of Purdue University and Chairman of the Purdue Research Foundation. “Purdue is uniquely positioned to provide thought leadership in this emergent field, drawing together the best thinking of the Silicon Valley tech sector and policymakers in Washington, D.C. The Institute will be a ‘cradle of tech diplomacy,’ contributing to U.S. foreign policy debates with technology expertise.”

The Krach Institute’s primary focus will be on technologies that are critical to American foreign policy, such as 5G, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, energy, digital health, digital currency, cybersecurity, autonomy, and global supply chains. The Institute will collaborate with like-minded nations and with the private sector, promoting engagement with trusted partners and advocating for a global tech agenda that reflects freedom, democracy, and human rights in multilateral organizations.

“There is a growing and bipartisan appreciation for the intertwining of critical technology and foreign policy, as demonstrated through the heightened investment in technology and continuation of tech diplomacy successes we’ve seen recently,” says Mung Chiang, Founding Director of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue. “Building on this momentum, the Institute—as America’s tech tank—aims to bring deep engineering expertise to studies and events about tech diplomacy and to provide training of technology knowledge to the foreign policy community.”

Chiang is the Executive Vice President and John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering at Purdue University. In 2019-20, he served a one-year appointment at the State Department as the Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary of State. David Reingold, Justin S. Morrill Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University, is the Co-director of the think tank. Founding members of the Institute’s Advisory Board come from both the private and public sectors and include prominent global leaders in technology and policy; inaugural fellows represent bipartisan backgrounds and are leaders in tech diplomacy across politics, academia, and business.

Keith Krach, Chairman of the Krach Institute Advisory Board, says, “From my time building transformative companies in Silicon Valley, running economic diplomacy for the U.S., and chairing the Board of Trustees at Purdue, I know that the world needs America’s leadership now more than ever to protect freedom, democracy, human rights, prosperity, and national security through the adoption of trusted technology.” He adds, “I am honored to serve as Chairman for the Institute, dedicated to developing transformational leaders to drive U.S. innovation and training American diplomats in the art of tech diplomacy to advance freedom and safeguard global economic security.”

The Krach Institute will host an inaugural event focusing on the global semiconductor supply chain on September 22, 2021. The event will feature a keynote speech from Patrick Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, and roundtables with chief technology officers from major semiconductor companies across the world and leaders from the U.S. government and Congress. The hybrid, bi-coastal event will take place in Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., while kicking off virtually from West Lafayette, Indiana. The event will be open to media. For more information on the event and to register, please reach out to techdiplomacy@prf.org.

Two additional launch events are slated for October, one focusing on US-EU-UK-Japan collaboration in technology research and development and another launching a year-long study on 6G global roadmap.

About the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy At Purdue

The Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue is an independent think tank founded in 2021 to advance technology for freedom. It brings engineering expertise to the intersection between technology and U.S. foreign policy for national security, human rights, freedom, democracy, and prosperity. As American’s “tech tank,” the Institute serves as the go-to resource on critical technology issues for the diplomatic community, and partners with industry, academia, and other thought leaders in the U.S. and like-minded nations. For more information, please contact techdiplomacy@prf.org.

About The Purdue Research Foundation

Purdue Research Foundation supports Purdue University’s land-grant mission by helping the university improve the world through its technologies and graduates. Established in 1930, PRF is a private, nonprofit foundation. The foundation helps patent and commercialize Purdue technologies; builds places to encourage innovation, invention, investment, commercialization and entrepreneurship; and makes equity available to students to finance their Purdue education. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. For more information about involvement and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org.

SOURCE Purdue Research Foundation

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