Authors: Martin Rauchbauer | Pavlina Ittelson

Tech diplomacy in digital foreign policy

2023

Countries are increasingly implementing digital elements in their policies, defining national digital and digitalisation policies, and in some cases, have created dedicated digital foreign policies. In order to implement them, they create dedicated posts: from the first Danish tech ambassador, to the posts of global digital diplomats, cyber diplomats, and tech envoys, as well as dedicated sections within their ministries of foreign affairs.

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Since 2018, the field of digital foreign policy and diplomacy has evolved considerably. Countries are increasingly implementing digital elements in their policies, defining national digital and digitalisation policies, and in some cases, have created dedicated digital foreign policies. In order to implement them, they create dedicated posts: from the first Danish tech ambassador, to the posts of global digital diplomats, cyber diplomats, and tech envoys, as well as dedicated sections within their ministries of foreign affairs.

Currently, there are various approaches countries are taking, and different ways the agendas, positions, and range of competencies are defined, all of which have an impact on the definition and practice of tech diplomacy.

Since 2017, countries have developed:

1. Dedicated digital foreign policy strategy and separate tech diplomacy strategy (Denmark)¹

2. Dedicated digital foreign policy strategies with elements of tech diplomacy (Australia² France,³ the Netherlands,⁴ Switzerland,⁵ and the UK)⁶

3. Foreign policy strategies that include aspects of digitalisation

4. Digital or digitalisation strategies with foreign policy aspects

5. Strategies dedicated to specific topics (cybersecurity, emerging technology, AI)

6. Positions related to digital, cyber, or tech policy without a specific strategy

By analysing the digital foreign policies of the six countries that have a separate dedicated policy from the tech diplomacy perspective, we can see differences in how terminology is used and how they focus on different aspects in their respective policies.

Table 1: The use of adjectives and prefixes in six digital foreign policy strategies⁷

	UK (2023)	Switzerland (2020)	Australia (2021)	France (2017)	Netherlands (2019)	Denmark (2021)
No. of words	15,390	23,285	26,394	18,177	10,753	4,051
Cyber	40	66	479	89	25	13
Online	1	16	88	12	28	1
Digital	65	312	86	223	209	37
Virtual	0	6	2	1	0	0
Net	9	1	1	0	0	0
Tech	33	4	40	0	2	77
E-	0	1	10	2	2	0

There are substantial differences in terminology when comparing the dedicated digital foreign policy strategies (Table 1). Australia employs the term ‘cyber’, while the Danish strategy favours the term ‘tech diplomacy’. France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands focus on ‘digital’.

This reflects the priorities of the countries’ digital policies, with ‘digital diplomacy’ encompassing all diplomacy that involves digital aspects and digital as a topic on the diplomatic agenda,⁸ ‘cyber diplomacy’ emphasising the security aspect, and ‘tech diplomacy’ focusing on interactions between nation-state representatives and tech companies (on global or local levels).

Digital diplomacy refers to the impact of digital technology on diplomacy in three realms:

Changing digital geopolitical and geoeconomic ENVIRONMENT for diplomatic activities (e.g. sovereignty, power redistribution, interdependence)
Emerging digital TOPICS on the diplomatic agenda (e.g. cybersecurity, e-commerce, privacy protection)
New TOOLS for diplomatic activities (e.g. social media, big data, AI)

When analysing how the topic and agenda of tech diplomacy are addressed, these policies all include aspects of tech diplomacy. With the exception of the Danish policy, others do not directly define ‘tech diplomacy’. Rather, tech-diplomacy aspects are dispersed in mentions of strengthening the presence and ties with tech companies in the San Francisco area (Switzerland), the Cyber and Tech Retreat (Australia), support for start-ups and scale-ups (UK), and establishing a start-up liaison officer position in San Francisco (Netherlands), and other aspects. Therefore, the tech diplomacy agenda is a mosaic of aspects of national policies derived from foreign policy, as well as other policies dealing with digital aspects.

The goals and areas of priority engagement of countries practising tech diplomacy align with the particular aims of the national policies. The emerging key topics of digital foreign policy are digital infrastructure, and digital as a factor in development, cybersecurity, economic prosperity (including e-commerce), and human rights (including the protection of privacy and freedom of expression).⁹

Table 2: Coverage of specific issues based on the frequency of certain terms¹⁰


	UK (2023)	Switzerland (2020)	Australia (2021)	France (2017)	Netherlands (2019)	Denmark (2021)
Data and privacy	110	135	54	76	98	7
Artificial intelligence	55	53	10	8	19	1
Security	98	45	185	58	25	13
Human rights	7	39	89	30	16	9
Governance	36	60	35	26	1	3
Development	77	94	112	74	71	31
Science	31	28	9	3	2	0
Economy/economic	53	68	91	59	47	3
Cooperation	20	57	64	25	41	16
Research and education	45	40	62	24	24	5
Health(care)	8	16	7	2	11	3
Sustainable development goals (SDGs)	2	6	5	2	5	0
Tech diplomacy/techplomacy	1	0	4	0	0	25

Tech diplomacy topics follow the areas outlined above. However, governments usually allow for a certain level of freedom for the tech diplomat to define topics to pursue. This enables the exploration of new topics in emerging technologies, as well as budding topics on the local level, such as quantum and supercomputing, the metaverse, safety and trust, and disinformation.

In this report, we approach ‘tech diplomacy’ as a subset of ‘digital diplomacy’. It encompasses the practice of diplomacy that engages with the private tech sector on issues related to digital policy and emerging technology, as well as foreign policy or geopolitical concerns on non-digital technologies such as biotech or microchips.

Structure of tech diplomacy representations

In order to implement foreign policy strategies and practise tech diplomacy, countries have created a variety of positions within their respective governments – both in diplomatic representations and in internal government structures.

Diplomatic representations dealing with tech diplomacy vary in name and the context of their involvement. Tech diplomats may carry the title of ‘ambassador-at-large’, ‘tech ambassador’, ‘tech envoy’, ‘tech attaché’, ‘digital ambassador’, ‘consul for tech and innovation’, or even both ‘general consul’ and ‘tech ambassador’, or ‘general consul’ and ‘tech envoy’. The reason is simple: to signal to tech companies (and others) the weight of engagement in tech diplomacy. It should be noted, however, that these titles do not strictly adhere to the traditional diplomatic ranks within a nation’s diplomatic representation.

Within their respective government, diplomats adhere to the traditional diplomatic ranks and have the scope of their mandate set anywhere from the global, national, or subnational level. They may be administratively under the ministries of foreign affairs, trade and investment, science and technology, or education. Within the ministries, there may be one person, a structural hierarchy, or several streams of engagement in tech diplomacy running parallel or intersecting.

Some countries have foregone establishing dedicated positions of tech diplomats in foreign countries and have established positions of experts on digital issues within their existing diplomatic representations (China, USA).¹¹

As can be inferred from above, the practice of tech diplomacy and its definition varies widely and has not yet reached its maturity.

There are several challenges stemming from such a variety:

Positioning of tech diplomacy within the diplomatic agenda: While some states see tech diplomacy as a type of traditional diplomacy, others categorise it under science and innovation, trade and investment, or even cultural and academic diplomacy. It is in this way that states signal their priorities for tech diplomacy engagement. The fact that the agenda of tech diplomats is usually an assortment of different aspects of various national policies makes the practice of tech diplomacy coordination complicated and, as a rule, requires crossing silos within national governments. This has drawbacks: emerging topics in tech diplomacy, such as environmental tech diplomacy, fintech, or ethical aspects of emerging tech, may not be fully embraced. Additionally, the understanding of the position of a tech diplomat by those they are tasked to engage with may not be the same. In our research, for example, companies did not see trade and investment as part of tech diplomacy, but rather viewed it in a traditional sense of negotiating trade agreements, attracting investment, and promoting local companies abroad.

Hierarchy: When establishing the new position ‘tech diplomat’, states need to decide how this new position will fit into traditional diplomatic structures. This includes decisions on the rank and name of the tech diplomat. Two main issues that were identified are whether having more than one ‘ambassador’ in a foreign country is acceptable and how to define the positions of global digital ambassadors, ambassadors in individual countries, and local tech consuls in a complementary manner.

Scope of engagement: With both tech and traditional diplomatic representations in place, the question arises about delineating their competency areas. This is especially visible in cases where a country may have a local consul (tech envoy), a country ambassador, and a global ambassador in place, with all being simultaneously engaged in agendas related to tech diplomacy. There are also examples where the agenda of diplomats reaches beyond tech diplomacy and goes into cyber diplomacy (security and defence). In these cases, coordination within the government is paramount.

Communication with others: Diplomatic structures, especially in their new forms, are not easily understood by those who tech diplomats are tasked to engage with. Tech companies have voiced their struggles and confusion in identifying proper contacts within governments to address policy issues or other issues of concern. Clarity on the structure and competencies, or having only one channel of communication for tech diplomacy, eases communication considerably. In our research, companies have mentioned that the success of the Danish model of having a global tech ambassador is partly due to having a ‘face’ and a single point of contact with the Danish government.

On the other hand, the benefits of engaging in tech diplomacy contribute to the stability and development of countries. Specifically, tech diplomacy efforts aim to address a variety of issues, such as:

Ensuring that democracy and human rights, especially the right to free expression, are observed
Illegal, harmful, and obstructive content detection and moderation, including disinformation and misinformation
The role of big tech in the social and economic development of countries, including the welfare of children and the development of new models of business, education, and taxation
The development of emerging tech in line with human rights and ethics
Shaping future national policies and models, such as financial, educational, and employment policies, and the digitisation of government services
Assessing existing and emerging approaches to regulating tech companies and platforms, both to gage compliance by tech companies, as well as technological solutions to regulatory and policy implementation
Spurring national innovation, business, and the science environment
Keeping abreast of the newest developments in technology and innovation
Strengthening multistakeholder engagement in policy development
Providing support to businesses and nationals in the local environment

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The text offers policy recommendations and insights on cybersecurity, focusing on building resilience, fostering cooperation, and addressing challenges in the digital domain.

Promoting e-Commerce in developing countries

This study examines the advantages and possibilities for the use of digital signatures to carry out electronic transactions. It focuses on developing and transition countries that have not fully implemented the use of digital signatures in their economic, commercial and productive processes. An important aim of this research is to create awareness on the likely effects for enforcing the use of digital signatures to carry out e-commerce transactions on the economies of developing and transition countries. The study also proposes key issues to be considered for policy-makers in countries in orde...

From a Safer Internet to a Better Internet for Kids

The text is about transitioning from a safer internet to a better internet for kids.

Twitter for Diplomats

Twitter for Diplomats is not a manual, or a list of what to do or not to do. It is rather a collection of information, anecdotes, and experiences. It recounts a few episodes involving foreign ministers and ambassadors, as well as their ways of interacting with the tool and exploring its great potential. It wants to inspire ambassadors and diplomats to open and nurture their accounts – and it wants to inspire all of us to use Twitter to also listen and open our minds.