On February 6, ORF America and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Renewing American Innovation project co-hosted a private roundtable with representatives from government and industry as well as policy experts to assess the current state of the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) and discuss how the initiative's next iteration should tackle issues and facilitate progress for different stakeholders in the relationship.

Participants shared information on opportunities and challenges covering ongoing investment and programming initiatives, policy engagements, supply chain management, talent skilling, and R&D cooperation, for semiconductors, telecommunications, IT services, and STEM research collaboration between the United States and India. The conversation also included analysis of India’s emerging technology strategy and a rundown of U.S. government strategic cooperation.

On November 8, ORF America hosted the fourth Chips for Breakfast, a private roundtable to facilitate frank conversations among a select group of U.S. and foreign government officials, industry representatives, and policy experts about the current state of U.S. semiconductor policy, technology leadership, and collaboration with like-minded partners to strengthen international commerce and security.

With numerous countries seeking to attract semiconductor investments at home through various “Chips Acts,” a preeminent challenge arises: the operation of new semiconductor manufacturing facilities will require a stable supply of skilled human resources, technical experts, and STEM talent. The United States alone will need 115,000 new personnel to drive chip design and operate new front-end and back-end facilities as new capacity comes online, 67,000 of these jobs are estimated to go unfulfilled given current constraints. 

Challenges on talent and workforce development include how to stimulate interest in STEM broadly, but also the semiconductor industry specifically, and how to mesh local and regional undertakings with national and international initiatives. In the United States, key institutions including universities, engineering schools, and community colleges, chip companies, state and federal government, as well as the National Science Foundation, have stepped up their efforts in addressing the projected workforce shortfalls. Despite U.S. executive branch efforts to leverage existing immigration pathways, congressional action on immigration policy is required to fill much needed talent in the short term. Crucial in these efforts are aligning local, regional, national, and global contributions, ranging from training to certification to attracting underrepresented talent and communities to meet the demand in the U.S. and globally.

On September 14, ORF America hosted the third Chips for Breakfast, a private roundtable to facilitate frank conversations among a select group of U.S. and foreign government officials, industry representatives, and policy experts about the current state of U.S. semiconductor policy, technology leadership, and collaboration with like-minded partners to strengthen international commerce and security.

Against the backdrop of the one year anniversary of passing the Chips & Science Act, this meeting focused on global semiconductor supply networks and the role the United States can play to lessen supply chain vulnerabilities and shed exploitable dependencies. It sought to address pressing questions along two lines of inquiry. First, determining the role of current and future U.S. leadership along the chips supply chain in light of right shoring and de-risking efforts. Second, examining the United States’ ability to mitigate against existing vulnerabilities harmful to its interests and those of its partners and allies.

Choke points and vulnerabilities identified by ORF America through independent research include, among others, firms’ access to advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment and the limitations to manufacture advanced process nodes without it, specific processed inputs for chip manufacturing such as materials and gases, but also the availability of talent and reliable water and electricity infrastructure. The damaging effects of even short-term supply chain disruptions stand out as well. The impact of disrupted supply, due to natural disasters or a geopolitical contingency in the Taiwan Strait or Korean peninsula, can significantly affect the global semiconductor industry and the global economy. Investments in supply chain resilience are thus crucial due to multiple vectors of uncertainty, including (but not exclusively) geopolitical factors.

On June 13, ORF America hosted the second Chips for Breakfast, a private roundtable to facilitate frank conversations among a select group of current and former U.S. government and foreign government officials, industry representatives, and academic experts about the current state of U.S. semiconductor policy,  U.S. technology leadership, and collaboration with like-minded partners to strengthen international commerce and security.

This second roundtable focused on key insights and takeaways from a recent closed-door Workshop on Technology Alliances and Emerging Technologies that  ORF America hosted in Washington, DC in early June. In addition, participants discussed the genesis of the CHIPS Act in Congress, and deliberated its current status as well as political and funding challenges ahead of its further implementation. Participants pointed out the crucial role of workforce development in light of domestic investments by U.S. and foreign semiconductor companies.  

The Raisina Dialogue DC

Washington DC | February 24, 2023

Background

As part of Raisina DC 2023, ORF America, along with Tech Mahindra, hosted a private roundtable (in-person) to facilitate a candid conversation about the future of global supply chains in the context of critical geopolitical developments with particular focus on the experience of business. Participants from the private sector, current and former U.S. and foreign government officials, think-tanks, and academic experts discussed different facets of this challenge. 

Summary

Global supply chains across industry sectors are undergoing structural changes following the Covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical disruptions, and recent commodity price volatility, creating redundancies and alternatives to mitigate risk. Participants noted that efficiencies gained from U.S. firms going paperless, such as in logistics, are not always translated across borders when the customs and border protection agencies of most international trade partners remain paper based. Incorporating technology and digitalization into tracking processes for shipping and tracking has become key for leading firms, but for companies operating in high-value industries where components for products circle the globe multiple times in manufacturing this is fundamental. During the pandemic and subsequent semiconductor shortage, examples were provided where a lack of supply chain resiliency or redundancy was damaging for key automotive and appliance manufacturing companies. For leading companies, supplier diversification for manufacturing inputs takes years, as firms want to verify the capability of additional sources.

In many cases, national governments are providing incentives to re-shore, friend-shore, or “right-shore,” crucial elements of supply chains, while supply chain managers have begun to reconsider inventory management, scenario planning, and environmental sustainability with those factors in mind. Whether companies and consumers will be willing to absorb additional costs of products from a validated supply chain due to security concerns, remains an open question. Consumer education will play in a vital role in these areas. Past examples with diamonds and extractive industries focused on specific commodities or products, not entire supply chains.

Meanwhile, governments face challenges in determining what levers to pull for problem solving. In the United States, India, Europe, and East Asia participants shared that companies will continue to look to government for incentives to support their efforts because building manufacturing capacity for industries like aerospace, clean energy, and microelectronics is a massive, multiyear undertaking. Human talent development and acquisition of STEM workers, including in the fields of advanced engineering and logistics, is a key bottleneck in determining where and how supply chains and investments are routed. In the view of several participants, having universities co-located with manufacturing clusters will be essential going forward, as well as immigration policies allowing for the attraction of the best-trained workforce.

On December 16, ORF America hosted a Chips for Breakfast meeting, a private roundtable to facilitate frank conversations among a select group of senior industry representatives, current and former U.S. and foreign government officials, as well as academic experts about the current state of U.S. semiconductor policy and its implications for the global semiconductor value chain, U.S. technology leadership, and international security.

This first roundtable focused on the new, far-reaching October 7 export controls and industry and U.S. partners’ responses to these measures as well as the need to balance U.S. national security and economic objectives vis-a-vis foreign partners and allies’ interests. It also addressed the need to multilateralize semiconductor export controls to ensure their long-term effectiveness. Future roundtables will address a broad range of pressing policy questions concerning the global semiconductor ecosystem and U.S. technology leadership.

Washington DC | April 26th, 2022

I. Welcome Remarks

• Sharon Stirling, Chief Operating Officer, ORF America

• Dhruva Jaishankar Executive Director, ORF America (Read here)

II. The United States in the Indo-Pacific

• Michèle Flournoy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, WestExec Advisors & former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

• Michael Fullilove, Executive Director, The Lowy Institute, Australia

• Bill Hagerty, U.S. Senator (R-Tenn.) and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan

• Mira Rapp-Hooper, Director, Indo-Pacific, U.S. National Security Council

• Dhruva Jaishankar, Executive Director, ORF America (moderator)

The panel covered a wide swath of issues animating contemporary U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific region; the China challenge, Aukus, regional partnerships with ASEAN, India and Taiwan and the White House Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. Senator Hagerty emphasized the importance of India and Japan and called for the U.S. to strengthen its economic and energy presence in the Indo-Pacific. Michele Flournoy stressed on the vital U.S. interests at stake namely China’s challenge to the regional rules-based order and foreshadowed that Taiwan could be a future flashpoint in U.S.-China relations. Mira Rapp-Hooper reiterated that U.S. prosperity and security is tied to the Indo-Pacific and highlighted the ongoing inter-agency coordination in implementing and resourcing the Indo-Pacific strategy. Michael Fullilove signaled Australia’s receptiveness with the U.S. government’s “allies first” approach and underlined the bipartisan nature of Australia’s concerns with China. Overall, there was strong convergence on the U.S. to buttress its regional partnerships and alliances to enhance deterrence as well as pool resources to address shared challenges. Also, speakers suggested the need to widen the conceptual appeal of the Indo-Pacific within the U.S. and boost people-to-people ties in the region.

III. Energy Security & Access: US Cooperation with the Developing World

• Katie Auth, Policy Director, Energy for Growth Hub

• Andrew Light, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy

• Varun Sivaram, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

• Shayak Sengupta, Fellow, Energy and Climate, ORF America (moderator)

The panel covered critical questions around energy poverty, energy transitions, and energy security, focusing on developing countries. Rising energy prices resulting from the conflict in Ukraine, declining access to energy resulting from the pandemic, and climate change are all posing substantial and unique challenges for countries around the world. Speakers noted that energy discourse tends to be dominated by the EU and the United States, but this masks the unique and differentiated challenges faced by developing countries. The speakers highlighted that most developing countries are creating energy solutions of their own that must be harnessed and supported. This requires the mobilization of capital, especially public finance. It also requires the forging of mutually beneficial partnerships to catalyze existing technologies and lead to innovation.

IV. Securing Cyberspace and Critical Infrastructure

• Betsie Chacko, Associate Director, Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

• Chris DeRusha, Federal Chief Information Security Officer, U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

• Elina Noor, Director, Political-Security Affairs, The Asia Society Policy Institute

• Bruce McConnell, Distinguished Fellow, ORF America (moderator)

Participants discussed the multifaceted challenges to coordination and cooperation in tackling cyberspace threats, both within the U.S. government, as well as internationally. Chris DeRusha argued that taking advantage of the different approaches that governments take to solve the common challenges of cyberspace is necessary. Betsie Chacko suggested that improved information sharing with partners is a critical part of collective defense because cyberspace issues do not respect national borders. Elina Noor stressed the importance of broadening the lens on cyberspace challenges, and the need to think beyond the major cyber powers and involve the perspectives of smaller countries. All three speakers were clear that more international efforts were necessary to secure cyberspace and that cooperation needed to go beyond buzzwords and become more tangible.

On February 23, the National Cyber Security Center of Jordan (NCSC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, in partnership with Observer Research Foundation America (ORF America) and the Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan (Int@j) hosted the virtual Global Cyber Policy Dialogues: Middle East and North Africa meeting. The meeting focused on three interrelated topics: norms of state behavior in cyberspace, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure, and digital development and transformation. In each of these areas, aspects of implementation of national policies, regional cooperation, and capacity building were examined as well as their interlinkages.

The meeting kicked off with opening remarks from Ahmad Milhim, Head of the National Cyber Security Center of Jordan and Nathalie Jaarsma, Ambassador-at-Large for Security Policy and Cyber of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. A panel of experts spoke on both national and regional dynamics around a wide range of topics including the importance of a coordinated approach to addressing cyber challenges, the links between digital development and cybersecurity, the role of training and awareness-raising in achieving cyber resilience, and the challenge of terrorist use of ICTs to the MENA region.

A meeting summary can be found here, and recordings are available in English and Arabic.

Featured Speakers:

• Ahmad Milhim, Head, National Cyber Security Center of Jordan

• Nathalie Jaarsma, Ambassador-at-Large, Security Policy and Cyber, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands

• Omar Nahar, Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Jordan

• Nada Khater, Head, Digital Policies, Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship of Jordan

• Mohammed Aldoub, Cyber Security Consultant and Trainer

• Ahmad Elayyan, Manager, FinCERT Unit, Central Bank of Jordan

• Yusuf Rousan, Director, Cyber Policies and Compliance, National Cyber Security Center of Jordan

• Nidal Bitar, CEO, Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan

• Bruce W. McConnell, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation America

Global Cyber Policy Dialogues: Middle East and North Africa (English) Video

Global Cyber Policy Dialogues: Middle East and North Africa (Arabic) Video

On January 13 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, in partnership with Observer Research Foundation America (ORF America) and the Centre for Information Technology Law Studies (CEDI) hosted the virtual Global Cyber Policy Dialogues: Latin America meeting. The event focused on the linkages between the cyber stability normative framework, international cooperation to counter cyber crime, and the importance of an open, free, stable, and secure cyberspace to enabling digital transformation in the region.

An expert panel discussion covered a wide range of topics including the foundational role of cyber capacity building, the need for more practical cooperation on cyber crime, increased clarity in cyber crime legislation and terminology to protect against human rights abuses and enable effective international cooperation, and opportunities to engage in international processes as a way to build trust. A summary can be found at the bottom of this page, and recordings are available in English and Spanish.

Featured Speakers:

• Gloria Navarrete, Secretary-General for Foreign Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile

• Nathalie Jaarsma, Ambassador-at-Large, Security Policy and Cyber, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands

• Kerry-Ann Barrett, Cyber Security Policy Specialist, Inter-American Committee against Terrorism, Organization of American States

• Claudio Peguero Castillo, Vice-Chair, UN Ad Hoc Committee on Cyber Crime

• Barbara Marchiori de Assis, Lecturer, International Program on Cybersecurity and Privacy Management, ESAN University

• Luis Fernando García, Executive Director, Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales (R3D)

• Daniel Álvarez-Valenzuela, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Chile

• Bruce W. McConnell, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation America

Meeting Summary

Global Cyber Policy Dialogues: Latin America and the Caribbean (English) video

Global Cyber Policy Dialogues: Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish) video

The Observer Research Foundation America (ORF America) - in partnership with the U.S. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence - hosted a virtual public panel discussion on Thursday, June 10, 2021 on “Quad Cooperation on Artificial Intelligence.”

Informed by the recently published NSCAI report, the roundtable examined the key challenges for the Quad countries - Australia, India, Japan, and the United States - especially around issues of AI standards, infrastructure, supply chains, ethics, and data governance.

Speakers

• Jason Matheny, Deputy Assistant to the President & Coordinator for Technology and National Security, National Security Council, United States

• Anna Roy, Senior Adviser, NITI Aayog, India

• Takatoshi Miura, Deputy Director-General, Commerce and Information Policy, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Japan

• Tobias Feakin, Ambassador for Cyber Affairs, Australia

• Gilman Louie, Commissioner, NSCAI, United States
  
  Moderator

• Dhruva Jaishankar, Executive Director, ORF America

Dr. Shoshana Zuboff, author of ‘The Age of Surveillance Capitalism’ and Professor Emerita at Harvard Business School, is calling on lawmakers to criminalize Big Tech’s “secret extraction of behavioral data from our lives” and put their immunity from “crackpot” versions of free speech that flourish on online platforms firmly in the crosshairs, as governments around the world turn their attention to crafting new rules of the road to rein in technology giants.

“There is no such thing as cyberspace, there is no world that is somehow exempt from the charter of rights and laws that we live by in our societies,” Dr. Zuboff told ORF America’s Nikhila Natarajan, days after Facebook’s self appointed ‘Supreme Court’ punted its decision on former US president Donald Trump’s account, locked for the last four months.   

In a wide ranging interview, Dr. Zuboff laid out the broad structure of where big tech regulation goes next. If there was a single headline takeaway, it was about what’s to be done about the uninhibited extraction of data from our online lives. “We need to have laws that make this kind of secret extraction illegal. The fundamental act of unilateral extraction from our lives is deeply illegitimate,” said Zuboff. “And of course without that, the whole rest of the edifice crumbles. When we talk about objectives in the larger chessboard, we need to be able to confront extraction head on. And we need to have laws that make this kind of secret extraction illegal. Simply criminalize it.”

Bruce W. McConnell, Distinguished Fellow at ORF America, in conversation Marina Kaljurand, member of European Parliament from Estonia, and Robert D Atkinson of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, US at the 2021 Raisina Dialogue. This 30 minute segment offers viewers two lenses from both sides of the Atlantic to the big tent questions of regulating technology, innovation, consumer welfare, privacy and disinformation.

Microsoft President Brad Smith spoke at the Raisina Dialogue 2021 about always-on cybersecurity risks and how businesses and nation states are readying to deal with it. “The fundamental question is what do we do?,” says Smith. He lays out three agendas for immediate action.

On April 15, 2021 the Observer Research Foundation America, in partnership with the Ministry of Defence of North Macedonia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, and Metamorphosis Foundation, hosted the Global Cyber Policy Dialogues: Western Balkans. The event was organized to further discussions around building capacity in the Western Balkans to address key cyber challenges related to peace and security, cybersecurity and cyber crime, and information disorder. Bruce W. McConnell, Distinguished Fellow, ORF America moderated the event. A summary of the meeting can be found at the bottom of this page.

The meeting featured speaker presentations from:

• Radmila Shekerinska Jankovska, Minister of Defence of North Macedonia.

• Nathalie Jaarsma, Ambassador-at-Large, Security Policy and Cyber, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

• Vladimir Radunović, Director, E-diplomacy and Cybersecurity, DiploFoundation.

• Chris Painter, President, Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) Foundation.

• Vilma Tomco, Director General, National Authority for Electronic Certification and Cyber Security of Albania.

• Filip Stojanovski, Director, Partnership and Resource Development, Metamorphosis Foundation.

• Nikolaos Panagiotou, Associate Professor, Peace Journalism Lab, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

• Franziska Klopfer, Project Coordinator, Europe and Central Asia Division, Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF).

This event was part of a larger Global Cyber Dialogue Series being organized by ORF America and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands which seeks to convene regional dialogues to address key cyber challenges, strengthen multistakeholder networks, and increase coordination of regional capacity building initiatives. These meetings are intended to complement ongoing international-level cyber norms processes, such as the United Nations Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) and Group of Governmental Experts (GGE).