Diplomacy in the Digital Age: Lessons from Denmark’s TechPlomacy Initiative

Abstract

Summary As a small, open, advanced economy, Denmark has a lot at stake in the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution. However, the speed of emerging technologies and massive influence of multinational tech companies challenge traditional governance structures and diplomatic services around the world, creating a ‘diplomatic deficit’. That is why Denmark became the first country to appoint a Tech Ambassador and elevate technological trends to a foreign and security policy priority in mid-2017. This practitioner’s piece lays out the underlying reasoning behind engaging with the tech industry, the first-hand experiences from the initiative and some hard-won lessons before turning to the future perspectives. TechPlomacy is a political initiative with a global mandate to represent the Danish government vis-à-vis the tech industry with offices in Copenhagen, Silicon Valley and Beijing. The authors argue for new forms of coalition building engaging industry, governments and institutions in addressing the opportunities and risks of technology.

Status dan Kedudukan Techplomacy dalam Hukum Internasional (Studi Terhadap TechAmbassador Negara Denmark)

“…Pembahasan itu terus berkembang hingga di pembahasan bagaimana teknologi digital yang muncul dapat berdampak pada kebijakan luar negeri dan keamanan dunia di tahun-tahun mendatang. 11 Techplomacy dalam banyak hal dianggap sebagai upaya strategis untuk mengatasi perubahan dalam lingkungan diplomatik. Dengan mandat global dan perwakilan yang tersebar di beberapa wilayah di dunia, techplomacy dianggap sangat inovatif dan sebagai landasan untuk menangani tantangan yang dihadapi dunia berkaitan dengan perkembangan teknologi dan tantangan yang ditimbulkannya melalui pendekatan diplomasi formal.…”

Revisiting Indonesia’s Economic Diplomacy in the Age of Disruption: Towards Digital Economy and Innovation Diplomacy

“…Simultaneously, the diplomacy initiative needs to be understood as a new form of digital diplomacy bolstering strategic foreign policy arenas that treat technology and innovation sectors as primary interlocutor, more than just digitalization of public diplomacy or diplomatic communication tools. Indeed, this concept is inspired by lessons learned from the Danish "techplomacy" initiative represented by the so-called Tech-ambassador in the heart of tech industries, Silicon Valley and Beijing (Frijs-Madsen, 2018;Klynge et al, 2020). However, the initiative should be initially mandated with a commercial goal rather than political for gaining currency in Indonesia's foreign policy, taking account of the incumbent government's strong emphasis on economic benefits.…”

“…In response to the challenge in the areas, many countries and regional organizations come up with a breakthrough in their diplomacy initiative or approach in various ways in order to confront the impact of issues revolving around technology and innovation for the sake of political, security, or economic interests. The prominent instances are shown in France's Ambassador for digital affairs (previously Ambassador for Cyber-Diplomacy and the Digital Economy), Denmark's Techplomacy (Klynge et al, 2020) and Innovation Centre Denmark, Switzerland's SWISSNEX, The UK's Science and Innovation Network (Rüffin, 2018), the Dutch innovation attaché (Leijten, 2019), and the US Science and Technology Adviser (Ruffini, 2017). Likewise, some initiatives or forum have been established by major regional actors to face new technological challenges and opportunities namely the "Global Tech Panel" launched by European Union External Action and the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Science, Technology, and Innovation (AMMSTI) in the Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation (COSTI).…”

Science Diplomacy: An Overview in the Global and National Context

“…It is an important component of soft diplomacy as it can amicably leverage collaboration and even connect transnational political players with different political ideologies, or countries with different socioeconomic profiles (Johny, 2018). Since people tend to trust scientists more than politicians (International Science Survey, 2019-2020, it is inevitable for political diplomacy and science diplomacy to act in concert to achieve result-oriented solutions. Science informed political diplomacy that integrates all three components of science diplomacynamely science for diplomacy, diplomacy for science and science in diplomacy -has become the key strategy for all the economically advanced nations for attaining economic prosperity.…”

“…Some countries have rightly realized the importance of technology-based industries in shaping diplomatic decisions between nations. For example, under the umbrella of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the office of the tech ambassador of Denmark has a tech ambassador along with its offices and TechPlomacy team in Silicon Valley, California, Copenhagen, and Beijing (Klynge et al, 2020). Moreover, in the current era where there is a global hunt for talent, advanced nations have eased border entry requirements, visa regulations and permanent residency criteria for academicians, including scientists.…”