Julia Voo Named Research Director for Belfer Center’s China Cyber Policy Initiative

Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has named Julia Voo Research Director for the Belfer Center’s new China Cyber Policy Initiative. Within the Initiative, Voo will lead the Center's U.S.-China: Controlling Confrontation in Cyberspace project, a Track 2 dialogue with the China Institute for International Strategic Studies - a joint collaboration to facilitate discussion and develop policy recommendations for both the U.S. and China on the risks of cyber conflict.

“We are thrilled to welcome Julia Voo, who could not be better positioned to run this critical research initiative,” said Center Co-Director Eric Rosenbach, a former “cyber czar” for the U.S. Department of Defense. “The type of relations Beijing and Washington build in cyber space will have huge geopolitical consequences, which makes the U.S.-China dialogue that Julia and her team are facilitating as timely as it is important.”

“I am absolutely delighted to have this opportunity to join the Belfer Center to shape the global debate on China Cyber Policy," said Voo. "We are in the middle of a great challenge to the current global power balance, a substantial part of which will play out in cyberspace. CCPI at Belfer will help build the evidence base so that policymakers and business can find new areas for collaboration and to manage risk. It’s going to be a very busy and exciting time.”

A 2019 graduate of Harvard Kennedy School's mid-career Master in Public Administration program, Voo's earlier work included the British Embassy in Beijing where she focused on China's cyber and artificial intelligence policy from a trade policy perspective. Previously in Beijing, she served with the EU Delegation to China, Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy, and she was selected by the UK’s Cabinet Office to help deliver the G8 Summit. Her research interests include China's Digital Silk Road, industrial policy, and the development of international technical standards for strategic technologies.

Born in Plymouth, Devon, in the UK, Voo completed a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs and a Master of Arts in Global Security and Development at Plymouth University. Passionate about supporting the development of a more diverse generation of China-focused young professionals, she led the Beijing chapter of Young China Watchers (YCW) while she was in China and co-founded the YCW Mentorship program in a partnership with the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing and London-based colleges.