In Confluence, Canada's Tech Envoy in Silicon Valley, Consul General Rana Sarkar delves into issues shaping technology and diplomacy through the lenses of Silicon Valley, Canada, and the world. Each episode, Sarkar presses critical topics with subject matter experts to gain an unrestricted, deep dive into the tech policy issues defining our times.
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In Confluence, Canada's Tech Envoy in Silicon Valley, Consul General Rana Sarkar delves into issues shaping technology and diplomacy through the lenses of Silicon Valley, Canada, and the world. Each episode, Sarkar presses critical topics with subject matter experts to gain an unrestricted, deep dive into the tech policy issues defining our times.
Welcome to the inaugural episode of Confluence! Meet Consul General Rana Sarkar, Canada’s Tech Envoy in Silicon Valley. In this first episode, Sarkar introduces the concept of techplomacy, or technology diplomacy. Over the past five years, Sarkar and his team at the Consulate of Canada in San Francisco have been using diplomacy to help shape the future of technology regulation. To help illustrate this work, Sarkar speaks to Peggy Hicks—Director, Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures, and Right to Development Division at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)— and Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen—Tech Ambassador for Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former Technology and Sustainable Development lead at the World Economic Forum. Both guests are diplomats working at the intersection of human rights and technology policy. Together, they help Sarkar introduce the concept of techplomacy, give examples of this kind of diplomatic work, and describe the global importance of techplomacy—with implications for everyone. Both guests on this episode provide a global perspective that is both rooted in yet extends far beyond Silicon Valley. While their approaches to dealing with the enormous impact of the tech industry may differ, human rights frameworks are a common throughline that many actors can agree upon as a guide for action.
Links:
Peggy Hicks WEF Profile
Peggy Hicks LinkedIn
Peggy Hicks Twitter
Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen WEF Profile
Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen LinkedIn
Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen Twitter
Danish Tech Embassy
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights
Canada in San Francisco Twitter
Rana Sarkar Twitter
Consulate General of Canada in San Francisco
Additional Resources:
The rise of TechPlomacy in the Bay Area
Why techplomacy is more important than ever
Introducing ‘Techplomacy’: A roundtable with Denmark’s Tech Ambassador - Casper Klynge
All Tech is Human, August 2020
Massey Dialogue, September 2020
Dane against the machine: Tech-diplomat aims to protect fundamentals of democracy in digital age
Citizen Lab Submission to the Government of Canada
Canada Digital Government
Global Affairs Canada
Canada’s Efforts to Support Human Rights
Canada and the United States
Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat
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Confluence
In Confluence, Canada's Tech Envoy in Silicon Valley, Consul General Rana Sarkar delves into issues shaping technology and diplomacy through the lenses of Silicon Valley, Canada, and the world. Each episode, Sarkar presses critical topics with subject matter experts to gain an unrestricted, deep dive into the tech policy issues defining our times.
