Athens Democracy Forum – How technology changes the rules on the geopolitical chessboard

The proper use of technology and the way in which geopolitical correlations are changing in the battle for control of personal data were at the heart of the work of the Athens Democracy Forum held in Athens in collaboration with the New York Times and organized by Democracy and Culture Foundation.

Today a new war has begun involving sovereignty over data control. Whoever controls the data controls the world, said renowned historian and author Yuval Noah Harari, noting that the two major technology poles with geopolitical implications are the United States and China. Both base their strategy on the alliance between governments and their technology giants. Europe comes third and focuses on rules. However, in order to gain geopolitical power, technological power must also be created, the author added.

For her part, Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director, Cyber ​​Policy Center and International Policy Fellow, Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, said that Europe is the third technological power and that the principle of democracy does not may be technology, but the rules for regulating freedoms, access to information, transparency and accountability.

He agreed that sovereignty today is at stake in terms of technology, personal data control and surveillance, but the time has come for limits to be set.

Yuval Noah Harari referred to the right and wrong use of technology, noting that just as technology is used by governments to monitor businesses, so it can be used by businesses to control government corruption. In other words, useful technological tools can be created, which will promote security.

As an example, he cited the systems developed by Israel to monitor the Palestinians. Exactly the same tools, as exported, can be a means of technological imperialism and digital dictatorship.

Marietje Schaake predicted that the US, Europe and China are the future masters of technology and the geopolitically powerful. This means that rules for the protection of freedom and democracy must be enacted soon.

In order for this to be effective, those who institute it must understand how the new technology works, that is, what the rules of the game are. The practice differs from the theory when analyzing the forces that create new technologies, such as profitability, consumer behavior, but also geopolitical correlations, he added.