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 Defending Digital Democracy Project (D3P) brings together a unique combination of bipartisan experts in the political, cyber, technology, and national security fields to identify and recommend strategies and tools to protect democratic processes from cyber and information attacks.
D3P is always seeking new students to help with its ongoing workstreams. We are currently engaged in a number of projects, among them:
- Iowa Caucuses Security Project: this project aims to provide support to the Republican Party of Iowa and the Iowa Democratic Party to help them prepare for the Iowa caucuses.
- Research: D3P continues to build a research portfolio on emerging technologies, issues of digital democracy, such as data, and developments in elections security in addition to other related topics. D3P is also leading efforts on Information Operations (misinformation/ disinformation) and creating publications and tools that seek to improve the integrity of systems and processes vital to elections and democracy.
Other opportunities like conducting interviews or working with elected officials will be available throughout the semester for students who join the team.
If you would like to be involved with these projects, please RSVP and attend this session, which will take place in Wexner G02 (on the ground floor, next to the Kennedy School cafeteria). If you cannot make it, but are still interested in participating, please email Maya Nandakumar (maya_nandakumar@hks.harvard.edu), our Project Coordinator, for more information.