The Cyber Policy Center is part of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Marietje Schaake, an outgoing Member of the European Parliament who initiated the net neutrality law now in effect throughout Europe, will be the Cyber Policy Center’s international policy director, and an international policy fellow at the university’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.
The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) are pleased to announce that Marietje Schaake has been named to international policy roles in each of their organizations.
At FSI, Schaake will serve as the first international policy director of the Cyber Policy Center. With a focus on cybersecurity, disinformation, digital democracy and election security, the Cyber Policy Center’s research, teaching and policy engagement aims to bring new insights and solutions to national governments, international institutions and industry.
Schaake will also be an international policy fellow at Stanford HAI, which seeks to advance artificial intelligence (AI) research, education, policy and practice to improve the human condition. The university-wide institute is committed to working with industry, governments and civil society organizations that share the goal of a better future for humanity through AI.
As international policy director at the Cyber Policy Center, Schaake will conduct policy-relevant research focused on cyber policy recommendations for industry and government. In addition to her own research, she will represent the center to governments, NGOs and the technology industry.
“Over the course of her career in the European Parliament, Marietje Schaake has distinguished herself as someone who not only has a deep understanding of cyber policy issues, but knows how to enact the appropriate policy-related measures in the real world,” said Nathaniel Persily, the center’s faculty co-director, and the James B. McClatchy Professor of Law at Stanford Law School. “She is a fantastic addition to our growing team of researchers and practitioners from across disciplines, and I can’t wait to welcome her to campus in the fall.”
In addition to research and policy outreach, Schaake will teach courses on cyber policy, particularly from an international perspective, and bring leaders to Stanford from around the world to discuss cyber policy.
“Marietje’s extensive experience in politics, with a special focus on cyber policy, will bring a critical perspective to our classrooms,” said Michael McFaul, director of FSI. “Her stellar reputation and track record as a policymaker will be key in building connections between Stanford’s community of students, scholars and relevant policy influencers around the world.”
As the inaugural international policy fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Schaake will work with faculty to translate research into practical and implementable policy recommendations, and support the institute’s work to partner with AI leaders across sectors.
“AI is a technology that will affect every dimension of human life, and to ensure that its development and deployment is broadly beneficial for humans and society, we need to incorporate global perspectives into our work,” said Rob Reich, HAI associate director and professor of political science. “Marietje played a leading role in establishing the field of cyber policy in Europe, and will contribute enormously to the creation of a community of research, policy and practice focused on addressing the real-world impact of AI. And through her writing and teaching, she can help to shape the future generation of leaders across academia, government, industry and civil society.”
Prior to joining Stanford, Marietje Schaake led an active career in politics and civic service. She was a representative of the Dutch Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in European Parliament, where she was first elected in 2009.
In European Parliament, Schaake focused on trade, foreign policy and technology, and as a member of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace, and founder of the European Parliament Intergroup on the European Digital Agenda, Schaake develops solutions to strengthen the rule of law online, including initiating the net neutrality law now in effect throughout Europe.
“It is an honor to be joining the talented and dedicated teams at FSI and HAI on the Stanford campus,” said Schaake. “I look forward to researching and developing sensible cyber policy recommendations and to continue to bridge the gaps between governments and the technology sector around the world.”
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The digital age has exposed countries to new security threats and sovereignty challenges that policymakers have only begun to address. In addition, social media and network technologies increasingly strain the balance between protecting freedom of expression and preventing foreign actors from influencing elections. To date, technological advancement in this domain has outpaced government policies, doctrines or regulations. The Cyber Policy Center at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University aims to address this need through research, policy advocacy and teaching. Program areas address topics including cybersecurity, election security, misinformation, digital democracy and human rights, and emerging technologies. Through research, policy engagement and teaching, the Cyber Policy Center brings cutting-edge insights and solutions to national governments, international institutions and industry.
At Stanford HAI, our vision for the future is led by our commitment to studying, guiding and developing human-centered AI technologies and applications. We believe AI should be collaborative, augmentative, and enhancing to human productivity and quality of life. Our mission is to advance AI research, education, policy, and practice to improve the human condition. Stanford HAI leverages the university’s strength across all disciplines, including business, economics, education, genomics, law, literature, medicine, neuroscience, philosophy and more. These complement Stanford's tradition of leadership in AI, computer science, engineering and robotics.
Marietje Schaake can be reached by email at mschaake@stanford.edu. Her website is www.marietjeschaake.eu.
Media Inquiries: Mike Sellitto, Deputy Director, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, shai-press@stanford.edu
Marietje Schaake is a non-resident Fellow at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center and at the Institute for Human-Centered AI. She is a columnist for the Financial Times and serves on a number of not-for-profit Boards as well as the UN's High Level Advisory Body on AI. Between 2009-2019 she served as a Member of European Parliament where she worked on trade-, foreign- and tech policy. She is the author of The Tech Coup.
Renée DiResta is the former Research Manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory. She investigates the spread of malign narratives across social networks, and assists policymakers in understanding and responding to the problem. She has advised Congress, the State Department, and other academic, civic, and business organizations, and has studied disinformation and computational propaganda in the context of pseudoscience conspiracies, terrorism, and state-sponsored information warfare.
You can see a full list of Renée's writing and speeches on her website: www.reneediresta.com or follow her @noupside.
Download Complete Testimony (PDF 263 KB)
To contain and thwart the malicious effects of “Putinism,” the United States government and the American people must first understand the nature of the threat. This testimony focuses onthe nexus of political and economic power within Russia under Putin’s leadership, and how these domestic practices can be used abroad to advance Putin’s foreign policy agenda. Moreover, it is important to underscore that crony capitalism, property rights provided by the state, bribery, and corruption constitute only a few of many different mechanisms used by Putin in his domestic authority and foreign policy abroad.
This testimony proceeds in three parts. Section I describes the evolution of Putin’s system of government at home, focusing in particular on the relationship between the state and big business. Section II illustrates how Putin seeks to export his ideas and practices abroad. Section III focuses on Putin’s specific foreign policy objective of lifting sanctions on Russian individuals and companies.
Watch the C-SPAN recording of the testimony.
Media Contact: Ari Chasnoff, Assistant Director for Communications, 650-725-2371, chasnoff@stanford.edu
Cyber Initiative grantees and researchers in the news, February 2019
Here is a selection of Cyber Initiative grantee and researcher publications and citations for February 2019:
1-30-2019: Larry Diamond “Chinese Influence, American Interests” in The Diplomat.
1-30-19: Michelle Mello “Stanford’s Michelle Mello on Latest Measles Outbreak” in SLS Blogs.
1/31/19: Matthew Gentzkow “How Quitting Facebook Could Change Your Life” in Fortune.
1/30/29: Matthew Gentzkow “This is Your Brain Off Facebook” in Health.
2/3/19: Herb Lin “Atomic Scientists: Hunanity flirting with annhilation” in Tribune.
2/4/19: Matthew Gentzkow “Quitting Facebook makes people happier, study finds” in Irish Examiner.
2/6/19: Herb Lin “Add cybersecurity to Doomsday Clock concerns, says Bulletin of Atomic Scientists” in CSO.
2/6/19: Herb Lin “Add cybersecurity to Doomsday Clock concerns, says Bulletin of Atomic Scientists” in CIO.
2/8/19: Elaine Treharne “Statement on the Hoover Institution” in The Stanford Daily.
2/13/19: Michelle Mello “Stanford’s Michael Wald on Vaccinations, Children’s Rights, and the Law” in The Stanford Report.
2/15/19: Fei-Fei Li and Elaine Treharne “Human-centered Artificial Intelligence Initiative talks AI, humanities and the arts” in The Stanford Daily.
2/19/19: Fei-Fei Li “5 Women advancing AI industry research” in Tech Talks.
2/19/19: Fei-Fei Li “10 AI influencers you should be following on Twitter” in Siliconrepublic.com.
2/22/19 Larry Diamond “Utah Against Health Insurance” in New York Times.
2/23/19 Sharad Goel “Algorithms Can Decide Pre-Trial Jail” in urbanmilwaukee.
2/25/19: Dan Boneh “Zether developers from Stanford aim to add new layer of privacy to Ethereum” in Dapp Life.
2/26/19: Susan Athey “Ripple Lead on Questions – Student Seeks Clarification for Promoting XRP Over Bitcoin in Stanford University" in CoinGape.
2/26/19: Larry Diamond “George Pyle: Utah’s Medicaid reversal makes us a fool coast-to-coast” in Salt Lake Tribune.
2/27/19: Arnold Milstein “AI will not solve health care challenges now, but there are innovative alternatives, researcher writes” in Scope.
2/28/19: Dan Boneh “New Privacy Protocol Zether Can Conceal Ethereum Transactions” in Blockonomi.
2/28/19: Jure Leskovec “Species evolve ways to back up life's machinery” in Phys.org.
2/28/19: Matthew Gentzkow “What happens when you get off Facebook for four weeks? Stanford researchers found out” in Recode.
Eloise Duvillier is the Program Manager of the Program on Democracy and the Internet at the Cyber Policy Center. She previously was a HR Program Manager and acting HR Business Partner at Bytedance Inc, a rapidly-growing Chinese technology startup. At Bytedance, she supported the globalization of the company by driving US acquisition integrations in Los Angeles and building new R&D teams in Seattle and Silicon Valley. Prior to Bytedance, she led talent acquisition for Baidu USA LLC’s artificial intelligence division. She began her career in the nonprofit industry where she worked in foster care, HIV education and emergency response during humanitarian crises, as well as helping war-torn communities rebuild. She graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in Development Studies, focusing on political economics in unindustrialized societies.
The Stanford student team, comprised of students in the Applied Cybersecurity student group and coached by Alex Keller of the School of Engineering, took 1st place again this year, successfully defending their National Championship title against stiff competition at the Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition (CPTC) Nationals hosted by the Rochester Institute of Technology, November 2-4, 2018.
"It's honestly hard to describe the professionalism, dedication, and humility these students demonstrated as ambassadors for Stanford on the national stage. To the disbelief and delight of the judges, they discovered a 0-day remote code execution in a popular open source platform during the competition (responsibly disclosed to the vendor with CVE pending)," noted Keller.
The Stanford CPTC team (in alphabetical order) is Jack Cable, Paul Crews, Colleen Dai, Kate Stowell, Matthew Tan, Anna Zeng, with alternates Dillon Franke and Wilson Nguyen.
Midterm elections pose an opportunity for hackers interested in disrupting the democratic process
Voter registration systems provide an additional target for hackers intending to disrupt the US midterm elections; if voting machines themselves are too disperse or too obvious a target, removing voters from the rolls could have a similar effect. in Esquire, Jack Holmes explains that election security experts consider this one of many nightmare scenarios facing the American voting public—and thus, American democracy itself—on the eve of the 2018 midterm elections. (Allison Berke, Executive Director of the Stanford Cyber Initiative, quoted.)
