May 25, 2021

The Geotech Decade

David A. Bray, Inaugural Director of the GeoTech Center at the Atlantic Council, the esteemed Washington DC-based think tank, interviewed by host Trond Arne Undheim, futurist, investor, and author.
In this conversation, we talk about the Report of the Co...

David A. Bray, Inaugural Director of the GeoTech Center at the Atlantic Council, the esteemed Washington DC-based think tank, interviewed by host Trond Arne Undheim, futurist, investor, and author.

In this conversation, we talk about the Report of the Commission of Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data (GeoTech Commission). The report, which will be released on May 26, provides an extensive set of recommendations for the United States and its like-minded allies to thrive in a decade defined by data and technology collaboration and competition. I ask David these questions and more: What is the Geopolitics of Tech? Why is this report and Commission important? What does the report recommend and how is this different from other Commissions? How does the Commission hope to socialize and scale its recommendations into tangible actions? What has the process of writing it looked like? What are the main recommendations? What are the implications for the next decade?

After listening to the episode, find out more about the GeoTech Commission's report, Atlantic Council, check out David A. Bray's profile on Singularity University or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Trond's takeaway: The GeoTech Commission has conducted great work. The recommendations, whilst perhaps not themselves groundbreaking, are each quite important, are communicated well, and would make great impact on the proactive role of the United States in the world of technology and risk at large, and would make one small step towards a better decade. I'm particularly thrilled by David's comment that this is destined as much towards innovators and entrepreneurs as towards governments and policymakers. That's what governance will take as we move more deeply into this decade. The important stakeholders are changing, the shapers of tomorrow are not the shapers of yesterday. 

Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, subscribe at Futurized.org or in your preferred podcast player, and rate us with five stars.

If you like this topic, you may enjoy other episodes of Futurized, such as episode 48, The Future of AI in Government, episode 46 Parliamentary Tech and Hypertransparency, or episode 84 The Origins and Future of Open Science.

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David BrayProfile Photo

David Bray

Director, Geotech Center, Atlantic Council

Strategic c-suite executive, founder/exec director and corporate board member, skilled at leading transformative change in novel, often messy, chaotic situations requiring both new business models and successful strategies to deliver intelligent, reasoned results. Named top "24 Americans Who Are Changing the World" by Business Insider and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Led Bioterrorism Preparedness & Response Program’s tech response to 9/11, anthrax, West Nile, SARS, monkeypox, & other outbreaks. Worked in Afghanistan in 2009 to help "think differently" re: military & humanitarian efforts; awarded DOD’s Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award, highest-ranking joint civilian service award under combatant commanders. Directed (1) teams of 600+ interdisciplinary professionals; (2) xxx-Million $ multi-year budgets; (3) White House & UN international activities on transnational threats & disruptive tech. Current Advisor to U.S. Department of Defense.

Transformative commission director and global champion of positive “change agents” across sectors even in turbulent environments & near-mission impossible leader. Pioneered 1st ever bipartisan Commission reviewing R&D efforts of entire U.S. Intelligence Community and its multi-billion $ budget. Served as Senior National Intelligence Executive; received National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal for leadership. Selected as 1 of 2 Senior Executives across entire U.S. gov't to receive Roger W. Jones Executive Leadership award. Transformed na… Read More