Over the past few months, the European Commission, along with European telecommunication providers, have reignited an old debate about the way traffic is meant to flow through the internet. Premised under the decade-old idea of the ‘Sending Party Network Pays’ (SPNP) model, the intention is to require content providers to pay telecom operators for the traffic they carry on their …
Getting the (Digital) Indo-Pacific Economic Framework Right
On the eve of the Tokyo Quad Summit in May 2022, President Biden unveiled the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), visualising cooperation across the Indo-Pacific based on four pillars: trade; supply chains; clean energy, decarbonisation and infrastructure; and tax and anti-corruption. Galvanised by the US, the other 13 founding members of the IPEF are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic …
Securing Critical Gas Infrastructure
Europe relies heavily on imported natural gas, and the Gas Critical Infrastructure (GCI) involved in transporting, storing and distributing it must be made secure and resilient to both physical and cyber threats. However, the complexity of the gas network – including its diversity of transportation lines, geographies crossed, and production and storage facilities – make it a challenging environment to …
The EU’s Fragmented Cybersecurity Market
While the EU recognises the importance of cybersecurity policies, it continues to lag behind certain international counterparts in terms of creating a unified ecosystem and providing investment opportunities. One of the central problems hindering the EU is the fragmentation of its cybersecurity market, which impedes European cybersecurity companies from scaling up and forces them to look for alternative markets to …
Southeast Asia in the Global Digital War
China’s push for “cyber sovereignty” in global tech discussions is attracting an audience in regions like Southeast Asia. Here, states and the private sector are ready markets for technologies, but they are also engaged in delicate diplomacy with China and the US against the backdrop of geo-security interests. Understanding the dynamics of the region requires a nuanced critical approach.
Do We Need an EU Cybersecurity Rating Agency?
As companies get ever more concerned about the cybersecurity standards of their suppliers, they are looking for a cheap and easy way to establish whether they can trust another company. Audits are time-consuming and expensive, but a number of new companies offer so-called outside-in cybersecurity ratings that promise to provide an accurate appraisal of IT security standards through a mixture …
Geopolitics of the Global Semiconductor Value Chain
The semiconductor value chain is highly interdependent, with some areas overwhelmingly dominated by a few companies or countries. Given Europe’s position in the value chain, European policymakers working toward strategic autonomy would do well to consider questions of access, leverage and resilience in addition to ownership. Semiconductors, such as processors or memory chips, are the drivers of the accelerating digitalization …
The Geopolitics of Social Media
Banning social media platforms becomes a piece of the geopolitical puzzle which might ultimately undermine digital rights online.
The Geopolitics of the Internet of Things
The EU’s data and AI strategies assume that increasing trust will increase data generation, bolstering the Union’s competitiveness in the AI field. But an inherent conflict exists between the goals of data-driven innovation and data protection. Like any significant technological shift, the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) raises many issues of geopolitical and strategic significance. These issues reflect …
Projecting Power With Data
Geopolitical competition may result in a new technological order. Europe could lead in the global data economy.