The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has joined forces with its Danish counterpart to launch a global network of cyber and technology ambassadors from more than 20 countries.
Announcing the network, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Marise Payne said the initiative would ensure that technological development enabled prosperity, security, democracy and human rights.
“Addressing the challenges and opportunities of cyberspace and critical technologies requires trusted partnerships between countries and with industry,” Senator Payne said.
“This global network of cyber and tech ambassadors shares the goal that technology be used to uphold and protect liberal democratic values to benefit our societies, economies and national security,” she said.
“We cannot allow these technologies to be co-opted by authoritarian states and undermine the international rules-based order.”
Senator Payne said the network recognised that success rested on partnership and collaboration between Governments and the technology companies that designed, developed and deployed the next generation of digital technologies.
The Minister said digital technologies were shaping the future of humanity, with the pace of current technological change outstripping any in history.
“Advances in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and high-speed communications are transforming how we live, work, govern, and interact,” she said.
“These technologies also expose us to new risks, particularly when they are used by authoritarian states to repress, to silence and to disrupt the international rules-based order,” Senator Payne said.
