About Us.
The Yale-W&M Geopolitics of Technology Initiative was established in 2022 to create research and educational opportunities for undergraduates focused on our international technological futures. In our first year, we have been working to produce a report on China’s technological engagement in the Indo-Pacific across the ICT, surveillance/AI, and fintech sectors. Our research is conducted through three streams:
Policy White Paper
We aim to write a white paper presenting broad trends of when and where China has deployed certain technologies in the Indo-Pacific. This research will aim to develop an understanding of the countries and technology areas where China is deeply invested and the ramifications on societal and geopolitical outcomes. Through this research we aim to answer:
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How is China using technological exports and cooperation to shape their presence within the Indo-Pacific?
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What geopolitical, economic, social, and normative impacts does China’s tech spread have in the Indo-Pacific?
Chinese Foreign Technology Investment Dataset
A major barrier to understanding how emerging technologies will impact our futures is the lack of information about such technology development, especially through under-tracked centralized financial flows. Building off of AidData's Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset 2.0, we are developing a pilot dataset that aims to analyze the financing and implementation of emerging technology projects funded through official and private means.
Seminar Series
Arguably the most important aspect of our work is connecting with and inspiring students to engage with the extensive futures of technology policy. Throughout the year, we aim to invite policy practitioners an technical experts with experience in institutions ranging from British Telecom to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan to talk to students about their careers and policy experiences with emerging technologies.
On February 25-26, 2023, we also partnered with the Special Competitive Studies Project to host their inaugural NatSecTech Workshop on International Technology Competition at William & Mary. 30 Students from the college engaged in a two-day event where they listened to lectures, engaged in mentorship sessions, and asked burning questions to dive deeper into the topic of technology competition strategy and policy.
