Embracing difference: governance of critical technologies in the Indo-Pacific
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The key insight of the paper is that policymaking and diplomacy on critical technologies should proceed from a recognition that the uses and impacts of technology are heavily affected by social factors, including local culture, context and legal traditions.
Executive Summary
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (or ‘Quad’) aims to promote security and economic cooperation between the Indo-Pacific’s four leading democracies: Australia, India, Japan and the United States. In this, the grouping is at once a mechanism to cooperate in relation to material interests, and a commitment to fundamental democratic values. Particularly in 2020, the Quad grouping has signalled an intention to increase engagement and agenda-shaping in relation to critical technologies. This is a complex undertaking: development, use and regulation of critical technologies cuts across multiple policy areas, including those outside (or at least adjacent to) the Quad grouping’s traditional focus on security and economics. Further, critical technologies are also inherently social artefacts – they are shaped by, and shape, civil society and private-sector actors. This makes a purely state-led approach to their governance difficult, and arguably inappropriate.
This paper considers what an approach to human rights and ethical governance of critical technologies could entail for Quad members. Its focus is data-driven technologies (and associated data-sets). However, the paper’s insights will be applicable across different categories of critical technologies. In a COVID-and-after world, this conceivably includes biotech and biometric contexts such as epidemiology, testing, vaccine and treatment technologies. The key insight of the paper is that policymaking and diplomacy on critical technologies should proceed from a recognition that the uses and impacts of technology are heavily affected by social factors, including local culture, context and legal traditions.
Quad membership is often defined by distinguishing from autocratic/non-democratic powers. However, there are also considerable divergences within and between Quad members, and other partners, on what the responsible development, use and governance of technology (and related data) comprises.
There are also differences between and within like-minded countries about how technologies are perceived to either pose a risk to, or enhance, security, economic and social interests and values. This techno-social context of critical technology raises important questions:
- Where is there scope to aim for common Quad-level approaches and standards?
- Where is difference inevitable (or even desirable), and how should it be managed?
- What is the role for ethics and human rights, and are these strategically the most appropriate and compelling frames for pursuing the governance of critical technologies? What other governance systems (or narratives) might assist in the socially responsible development and use of technology?
- How does the outsized role and impact of the private sector (especially transnational ‘big tech’) affect the viability of state-led approaches?
Structure
This paper grapples with each of these questions across five parts:
- Part 1 examines the complexities of critical technology policymaking and diplomacy.
- Part 2 then asks what might be the most appropriate framing for approaching questions of the responsible development and use of critical technologies.
- Part 3 then canvasses key issues at the intersection of human rights, ethics and security that Quad members – either alone or together – will need to bear in mind when promoting critical technology governance standards.
- Part 4 then narrows in on a key issue across a range of critical technologies: data governance and privacy regimes.
- Part 5 offers insights for how Australia, especially via mini-lateral groupings such as the Quad, can engage in diplomacy at the nexus of critical technologies, human rights and ethics.
About the series
This paper has been written for the Quad Tech Network Dialogue, as part of the Quad Tech Network (QTN) initiative. QTN is an initiative of the NSC, delivered with support from the Australian Government. It aims to establish and deepen academic and official networks linking the Quad nations – Australia, India, Japan, and the United States – in relation to the most pressing technology issues affecting the future security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific.
