What we’ve been working on.
At a time when Europe’s economy unceremoniously achieved zero growth in the final quarter of 2023, how Europe chooses to respond in this moment could be one of the biggest, most consequential decisions shaping its long-term future. To lift its stagnating economy and expand prosperity, Europe needs to harness a proven and powerful growth engine — technology-enabled economic growth.
Last March, in the forward to the White House Cybersecurity strategy, the President wrote, “[W]hen we pick up our smart phones to keep in touch with loved ones, log on to social media to share our ideas with one another, or connect to the Internet to run a business, we need the ability to trust that the underlying digital ecosystem is safe, reliable, and secure.”
As hackers become increasingly sophisticated, they are targeting our personal data and stealing it at unprecedented rates. As a result, too many of us have received notices telling us our data has been breached and is likely in criminal hands. That data likely wasn’t stolen from your personal device but taken from a third party like your health provider, a school, or an online store.
Executives and boards today must pay attention to global public policies and act to protect their interests, customers, and trust in their brand. Proposed laws or policies that seem to be far-afield often carry provisions that can cut to the heart of your ability to drive innovation, security, and markets. It is vital to systematize a process of staying ahead of the public-policy curve.
At a time when surging temperatures led to the hottest year on record, leaders around the globe are searching for new and innovative ways to accelerate climate progress further. One of the most promising, but often overlooked tools, involves accelerating the revolutionary potential of emerging connected devices and the digital transformation they enable — creating new smarter, cleaner, and greener ways to tackle our climate challenges.
Technology today is changing at a near-breakneck pace. There are exciting new developments constantly taking place, with the potential to improve lives and tackle some of the biggest challenges we face. But bad actors are also innovating and thinking of new ways to exploit an increasingly connected world. In this new environment, everyone has a responsibility to help protect the security, safety and privacy of users.
In September, I moderated a discussion in Brussels for the Munich Security Conference focusing on tech regulation in a time of strategic rivalry. The focus was on the very distinct and different approaches to regulating tech between the U.S. and the EU and the geopolitical implications of these policies.
We’ve previously explained the many challenges European regulators face in implementing the Digital Markets Act (DMA), especially as it relates to the security consequences of downloading mobile apps from untrusted sources. In this piece, we go deeper to examine lessons from a similar well-meaning approach and architecture from the 1990’s — a technology framework called ActiveX that enabled software applications to be downloaded from third-party sources to bridge the gap that separated web pages from Microsoft’s operating system.
As diversity, inclusion, and accessibility continue to be vital aspects of developing equitable new technologies, Trusted Future convened a panel discussion to explore these vital issues. The conversation focused on the need to include diverse voices when developing technology and technology policy, especially voices from communities that are often left out of the conversation – but who stand to gain the most. We focused on how new technological developments have created incredible opportunities for so many, but that users need to be able to trust the technologies, including trust that their sensitive data will be kept private and secure.
At a time when access to the digital world has become increasingly indispensable for almost every aspect of modern life, one of the greatest challenges facing leaders today is how we extend digital opportunity to everyone. Fortunately, there are pragmatic steps within reach that policymakers and business leaders can take to ensure connectivity for all, trust for all, and opportunity for all.