The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
The Boston Tech Hub Faculty Working Group (FWG), hosted by former Secretary of Defense and Belfer Center Director Ash Carter and Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean Frank Doyle, are meetings that explore and answer the question: How do we define the public purpose in the context of emerging technologies and integrate public purpose into the development and management of those technologies?
Our collective future requires that experts apply knowledge in the service of civic duty and public purpose. The brightest and most creative problem solvers seek the hardest and most interesting problems. These meetings are an opportunity for faculty members and tech industry experts to evaluate the impacts of an emerging technology and exchange interdisciplinary approaches to guide their development. Furthermore, by gathering together, developing unfamiliar connections, and advancing new ideas, this community will be better prepared to shape the future of technological advancement.
The agenda for these meetings is designed to:
● Identify current controversies or debates surrounding this emerging technology
● Discuss inflection points where risks can be mitigated or public purpose can be integrated
● Propose mechanisms for mitigating risk or integrating public purpose
During the fall semester, our sessions focus on a selection of specific emerging and disruptive technologies. The spring semester sessions build on concerns raised and conclusions reached during the fall sessions and focus on potential solutions to help shape a future in which technology benefits humanity as a whole.
The second spring session for 2019 is on the topic of private sector investment in emerging technologies. The session with explore private sector investment and the impact investing practices have on the development of emerging technologies.
Many emerging and disruptive technologies enter the market as start-up companies backed by venture capital (VC) firms. These technologies often deliver better and more affordable products to consumers, and provide improvements to critical public goods such as a free press, public transportation, and housing. However, new technologies also often result in the unintended and/or unanticipated disruption of critical public services, as well as undesirable applications of services by users. Today a new generation of start-ups are building the next round of disruptive technologies and services. These include blockchain, genome editing, quantum computing, space-based technologies, advanced AI, IoT, and neurotechnologies—just to name a few; all of which have enormous market potential, but will also have transformational impacts on society.
A sustainable and peaceful future will depend on whether the next generation of innovators are able to anticipate and mitigate the challenges these technologies will bring, and this session will examine how VCs fit into this landscape.