Understand the Impact of Digital Technology on National Security
Today’s leading technologies and cybersecurity experts are focusing on the role of emerging and disruptive technologies in the context of national security. Of the vast range of digital technologies contemplated by the defense committee, two channels (communications and information) were picked to have the most potential for enhancing the readiness of reserve components and their integration with active components. The frequent use of emerging technologies for commercial purposes creates regulatory challenges. Now, the most vibrating question is how can government address these challenges while keeping the outcomes of technological innovation and progress in mind?
To make remarkable changes in national security, we are leading towards a smarter and advance form of safety. Using drones for patrolling guided by sensors, the government is making smart moves towards people’s safety and security. An artificial intelligence algorithm steers military commanders for faster decision-making. We can assess threats in airports and other prime suspecting areas for any illegal and terrorist activities through facial recognition using ubiquitous cameras and ample cloud storage. Remember that these technologies were designed to fulfill the commercial needs and making customer experience countable. But, now we are experimenting and examining the technological advancement in different sectors. For example, online assignment help services to tackle the complexity of student’s academic tasks and help them to keep academic potential. However, the hastening in innovation and technology may create challenges for those who are responsible for its control.
To understand the impact of technologies on national security, we need to examine challenges and outcomes to be seen in the future. The handling of new tactics generates the necessities of guiding technologies in the correct direction with wise approaches to control its consequences. Learn the challenges which we can face while adopting new technologies in national security.
Focus on how to manage evolving technologies with outputs
One of the prime challenges with emerging technology is that it repetitively changes the process of a problem. In order to counter this situation, we need to shift our focus on the outputs that can be achieved by technology instead of thinking about which technology is responsible for it.
Take an example of drones, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), controlled remotely from the ground. If you are considering drones as a prime component for national security, then you also need to examine their outcomes for making your research fruitful.
Consider unpredicted applications
While thinking about the practice of technology in national security, one more thing to ponder is how quickly the use of technologies can alter. The technology, that developed for fulfilling commercial requirements, can also have unseen implications in the national security or defense sector. And, without previewing the regulation of any technology, it is not beneficial to use in security purpose.
In 2013, a student has developed a plastic gun (using 3D printing) that could fire live rounds. He has also published its blueprint online. In another case, a plasma railgun has been built that could fire with a speed of 560 mph with the help of a 3D printer. Therefore, it can dangerous to use technology without analysing its regulation in any field.
Introducing new producers in the market
Both military and commercial technologies are responsible to make a strong Defence Industrial Base. The company that produces fighter jets is also making commercial airliners. Here, the interesting thing to notice that companies that now purely in commercial sectors (with no interest in defense) are trying to indulge in national security because of the unseen applications of their products. This situation raises concerns for regulators to think about the technologies before implementing them in any area. The major responsibility is to address the challenges that may create concerns for national security.
Let’s take an example of graphene which was discovered at the University of Manchester in 2004. It was nothing but a smudge on a piece of tape without having a connection with national security. Now, after almost 15 years, the potential of graphene can’t be ignored. It is used to create 45% more efficient Lithium-ion batteries, aircraft wings, and so on.
Pace of technological advancement
The major part of concern while regulating commercial-origin technology is the time lag of these technologies. Today, we are facing the emergence of new technology on a daily basis. In fact, if you calculate, you will find the span of software is about four to six years. How we can forget the development of mobile phones and the availability of their recent versions on a monthly basis?
On the other hand, the regulation of these software takes time to develop and circulate. Thus, to achieve high and powerful security, regulators should consider all these factors and need to think about new and faster methods if they want to maintain a steady pace with the developing technologies.
Availability of various regulators
The increasing number of technology creators raises concerns for proliferating the use of those technologies. The more industries, more creators, and more uses offer a potential touch to any give technology regulators. In other words, we can say that technology has to face different channels for showing its potential. And, all these regulators have different perspectives. For example, flying cars; it needs certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for any usage, the Department of Transportation to drive on public roads, and requires the permission of the Department of Homeland Security or Customs and Border Patrol to cross the borders.
Thus, it is quite essential to understand the role of every regulator when things come to national security. Technologies play a crucial role to provide a new face to any process but we need to think about all factors responsible for its success.
Refer to the above diagram to understand the role-play of different players for regulating national security technologies. Roles and department of regulators vary according to focus areas whether it is on the ground or security purposes.
Learn about the future of regulation
To overcome the challenges associated with new commercial technologies, we need to develop new regulatory rules without stifling innovation. For the government, it is not enough to work within an integrated and informed network of regulators and tech producers; they need to search for new pathways to develop and regulate technology. Here, the future of regulation defines those new tools and new methods of controlling technological changes and their outcomes,
This approach will help the government to build technology in the right direction using adaptive approaches for regulation. The rapid advancement of technologies which hard to predict requires new tools and approaches defined under the future of regulation. A strong approach is essential to address these changes:
- The government should understand the outcomes of evolving technologies instead of thinking about the technology responsible for it. To normalize the outcomes, regulators have to create proper rules and keep safety concerns on the mind.
- It is required to evaluate technologies with risk-based regulation. Due to the involvement of many players in generating and regulating national security, technologies come with different competing priorities. Thus, the use of such a risk-based approach can help to stabilize those competing priorities.
- Build sandboxes to mitigate unforeseen situations created by emerging and new technologies. A sandbox may sound unfamiliar or high-tech concept, but the national security community has years of experience in working on it.
- Use adaptive regulation to combat with a time lag. In order to compete with the current pace of technological modification or changes, regulators have to create and adopt regulations that can meet the speed of technology such as the Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
- Regulators and tech producers need to achieve interoperability through collaborative regulation that will allow them to manage the tangled web of rules. Interoperability also helps regulators to create a steady set of rules across technologies, industries, and international borders.
Conclusion
No one can deny the impact and consequences of digital technology in national security. The national security is the most significant topic for the government of any nation, thus it requires constant modifications and changes to upgrade themselves. As per the above discussion, users will get the ideas of what challenges can be brought by adopting new technologies in national security including management of evolving technologies with outputs, handling new producers, pay attention to unpredicted applications, and how to match the pace of technological advancement. The government has to collect enough information before implementing any technology in their national security and safety.
After such an intense discussion, one thing to be noticed that what to do today to address tomorrow’s threats? For any nation, the comparative advantage is the support towards the development of national security technologies and keep those technologies from rivals. To make the right balance between these goals, one has to build a deep understanding of how the technology that may be used today, and develop tomorrow. Building trust in these digital technologies may seem difficult in the very first step in the context of the nation’s security but the stakes have never been higher. Thus, constant focus is required to deal with various challenges. How the US dealing with regulation of these powerful technologies will provide a lasting impact on future security across the world.
