What is tech diplomacy?
Over the last decade, the global tech industry has emerged as a new actor in international relations. Frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and biotechnology, as well as digital global platforms have not only transformed our lives. They have also had a profound impact on our values, institutions, and norms. Some of these disruptions have a global reach. They have also changed the geopolitical landscape. In Silicon Valley, tech diplomacy has emerged as a nascent field for practitioners representing governments, civil society, and global tech companies. Tech diplomacy promises to be a useful tool in tackling planetary challenges.
Tech Diplomacy Network
The Tech Diplomacy Network was launched in 2023 to foster collaboration and dialogue between the diplomatic community, civil society, and the tech industry in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. We organize events, workshops, and provide a resource for diplomats looking to navigate the complex and rapidly-changing world of technology. The network aims to become a hub for the diplomatic community to exchange ideas and share best practices. By fostering collaboration between communities, the network will help to promote international collaboration and understanding in an interconnected world.
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Tech Diplomacy Resources
Several institutions and countries, some of them close partners of the Tech Diplomacy Network, engage in tech diplomacy. Explore how they shape this new emerging field.
United Nations
The Secretary General’s Tech Envoy & the Global Digital Compact
AI and Diplomacy
Research and analysis on AI policy and diplomacy by DiploFoundation
United States
The US Approach: Digital diplomacy and responsible state behavior
European Union
European Union: A human-centric regulatory framework
Digital Human Rights
The Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) in Silicon Valley
Techplomacy
Denmark: Office of the Danish Tech Ambassador
Podcast
Norway: Expert conversations on tech diplomacy
Open Austria
Austria: Engaging Silicon Valley on tech diplomacy
Partners
News
- Tech Diplomacy Newsletter 4-26
The Iran conflict is becoming a real-world test of AI-driven warfare, with the U.S. military using AI systems to select targets and speed up strike decisions, compressing decision-making timelines from days to minutes. At the same time, both sides are deploying AI in information warfare, turning the conflict into both a physical and digital battlefield. Analysts say this marks an early shift toward faster, more automated wars, but raises major concerns about reduced human oversight and accountability, Rafi Schwartz reports for The Week. UNESCO and UNDP are rolling out a global training initiative to help governments build rights-based data governance systems as a foundation for AI. The program brings policymakers from across Africa and Asia to turn high-level principles into practical frameworks for managing data in areas like health, digital identity, and social services. - Tech Diplomacy Newsletter 3-26
The Tech Diplomacy Network was honored to co-present the third annual Tech Diplomacy Award alongside Keith Strier Streit, SVP, Global AI Markets at AMD, to Her Excellency, Deemah AlYahya, Founding-General Secretary of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO). Her relentless commitment to expanding access to the benefits of digital technology and AI for people around the world is exactly the spirit this award was created to celebrate. A special thank you to Her Excellency for joining us for a fireside chat diving into the origins and impact of the DCO. - Tech Diplomacy Newsletter 2-26
Tech Diplomacy News: 3rd Annual Technology Diplomacy Award Announced
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