The Program on Geopolitics, Technology, and Governance (GTG) is dedicated to world-class scholarly and policy-oriented research on the political, legal, and economic implications of digital innovation and global competition. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and a proliferation of smart, connected devices will revolutionize warfare and create new challenges and opportunities in statecraft. They will enable automation in countless domains, and lead to as of yet unknown applications that catalyze new industries and business models—and in the process, massively alter how economic value is created, captured and distributed, with ripple effects in the domestic politics of nations and the broader global political economy.
These developments will impose profound demands on domestic and international political and regulatory institutions. Our research explores how the convergence of risk factors such as cybersecurity, privacy and safety creates complex interdependencies across risk domains, and how governments and businesses craft policy and manage these risks in a global context to optimize the benefits of digital innovation.
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley at one of the world’s greatest universities, GTG serves as a global hub of scholarly and policy-oriented debate. It also plays a vital role in education and training, as steward of the Cyber Policy and Security specialization in Stanford’s Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy and through policy “boot camps” offered to Congressional staff and journalists.
Our Approach
The landscape of important cyber policy questions is vast, ranging from how to secure nuclear power plants to maintaining consumer trust in the financial sector to understanding and managing escalation dynamics in cyberspace. We focus principally on issues where we believe an interdisciplinary approach, the expertise of scholars in our program, and our trusted relationships with senior leaders gives us an unique ability to advance academic research and impact policy.
The program serves several key audiences. For policymakers, we seek to provide in-depth policy expertise and research on cyber policy through papers, briefings, access to the latest research and events. For the private sector, we provide an efficient, effective, and trusted means to engage with policy makers to express and share sensitive concerns related to cyber policy and security. For academia, the program is poised to play an important role in establishing and building cyber policy as an area of specialization and a potential training ground for increased expertise. For Stanford, it is becoming an umbrella under which cyber policy research, education, and outreach are unified and coordinated while enabling and energizing a wide range of activities and approaches. For the nation’s workforce, we work to provide a flow of talented students with interdisciplinary cybersecurity expertise who will go on to serve in government, join other universities, and contribute to leading companies.
