• Today, diplomacy, defence and human rights are not possible without technology
• Says, interested in investing in partnerships on tech issues
• Sound regulations, rule of law, investment in R&D needed to attract tech investments
• Says protection of digital infrastructure including undersea cables are vital for the future
• Says Govt. should not be adjudicating what speech is okay and what speech is not

Sri Lanka holds the right ingredients to build a vibrant, thriving technology economy that can generate revenue and help keep the island’s young talent here, the US’ first Ambassador-at-large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy Nathaniel C. Fick told The Daily Morning in an exclusive interview last week.

During his three-day visit to Colombo, Ambassador Fick held bilateral consultations with a range of counterparts in government, private sector and think tanks on cyber security, information and communication technologies, and digital freedom.

According to Fick, Sri Lanka holds vast strategic importance in the information age, with a majority of undersea data cables in the Indian Ocean, which connects the globe’s digital domain, strung across the island’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Commenting on the growing dependence on technology and the digital domain for governance, security, communication, and diplomacy, Fick stressed the importance of securing and protecting the critical national, regional and global digital infrastructure.

He told The Daily Morning that his office, the first of its kind, and the US were keen on investing in partnerships globally on tech-related issues, pointing out that one country or entity could not do it alone. Fick called for state investment in research and development, and the formation of a credible infrastructure backbone, backed by investor-friendly regulatory processes to attract high-tech investment and business to Sri Lanka.

The following are excerpts from the interview.  

Can you tell us about your office, and is it a policy priority for the US Government?

I was appointed to this role about one year ago. It is a new organisation in our Government. It is an effort to integrate and elevate our technology and diplomacy overseas since technology is changing every aspect of our lives. It is also changing the aspects of our foreign policy.

It is without a doubt a policy priority for the US. In two respects, there is a broad recognition that you can’t do human rights work in the world, any more, absent tech. You can’t do defence-related work in the world absent tech. You can’t do work at the United Nations absent tech. There are no bilateral relations absent tech. So, there is that reality that has infused every aspect of our relationships around the world.

And then there is the internal priority to modernise our own department and make sure we have technology expertise spread broadly throughout our diplomatic corp.

What are the key goals of the US in terms of cyberspace and digital policy? Are there any particular goals for the Indo-Pacific region?

Our overarching key goal, as a developed nation that has been a global leader in technology for a long time, is to articulate a positive, affirmative, compelling, and attractive vision for what our shared technology future can be.

Tech issues are as transnational as climate issues. So there is very little one country or one tech company, no matter how large they are, can do on its own. So, we are very interested in investing in partnerships globally on tech issues of all kinds.

I have three broad technology areas within my remit. First is cyber security policy, which includes capacity-building assistance and working with partners for up-scaling. It includes incident response and coordinating our assistance in the wake of attacks on allies and partners. It includes our work at the United Nations on things like advancing the framework for responsible behaviour in cyberspace.

Secondly, information communications technology policy. That is the architecture of the internet and telecommunication – the wireless networks, the data centres, the satellites, the cables, all of the pieces that get the internet into your phone.

The third is critical and emerging technologies – AI, quantum science, etc. Given all of the global and regional issues in the Indo-Pacific, each of these is important in its own way.

Is the US concerned about the safety and security of critical national infrastructure, especially ones related to the digital domain?

The security of critical infrastructure, including ones that service telecommunication, is very important to the US. It is important to the US Government, internally, and between our allies and partners. It is also important for our own critical sectors and companies. It is important for data privacy, integrity of data, and important for human rights. It is also important for information sharing and intelligence purposes.

It is also important in order to build vibrant tech ecosystems. I just visited the Hatch accelerator/incubator and met a group of entrepreneurs and kicked off a hackathon.

We all have a sense of what the ingredients are for this vibrant tech ecosystem.  You need research and development investment by the government, institutions of higher education to train people, intellectual property (IP) protection, and the rule of law. You need tax and regulatory policies that encourage business creation and growth. You also need entrappers and venture capital. And a lot of these entrepreneurs get trained at big tech companies. And those tech companies are most comfortable investing in a backbone of trustworthy infrastructure because they are worried about losing their IP.

Also, all the cables – the fibre optical cables that connect nations and the internet across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans – their safety and security are also very important.

How important is it for new domestic and international legislation to protect the undersea cables that connect nations and the digital domain in light of recent disruptions and undersea warfare that has damaged such networks?

Since most of our experience with the internet is via smartphones, we think the internet comes through the air. But that is only “the last mile” (via Wi-Fi or mobile telecommunication networks). About 95% of global internet traffic travels under the sea, via hard cables. Most of them are essentially nineteenth-century technology, which is really cool. The fibre in the middle is cutting-edge technology, but they are wrapped in steel, tar, and other materials. They still look very much like the first cable that was strung across the Atlantic in 1858, between the US and Europe.

So, as we are so reliant on these cables (95%), we have seen the impact of such disruptions. We also saw it in Europe in the context of the Ukraine war.

Given how critical and important this infrastructure is, we should be thinking about more coordinated approaches so that we have the right norms and institutions established to ensure these cables are operable, so people have access to an internet which is free and open.  

Now that you have engaged with the technology sector in Sri Lanka, what are your thoughts on Sri Lanka’s digital infrastructure?

I think there is immense opportunity in Sri Lanka to develop the digital economy. I nest that in a historical perspective. All you have to do is look at a map of Sri Lanka’s location to understand why Sri Lanka has been the object of attention for so long. In a lot of ways, that attention has been challenging and not necessarily good, right? However, as a free and independent country, that strategic geography remains. I spent some time in Panama some weeks ago. The Panama Canal is an immensely important strategic geography, right next to is a network of undersea cables that bridge two oceans, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

If you look at a map of undersea cables in the Indian Ocean, there is a reason why so many come together here (Sri Lanka). So, this (Sri Lanka) is a place with an enormously important strategic geography in the information age. You can look out the window and see the investment made by the Government for infrastructure, you have a vibrant base of universities and an educated populace. The entrepreneurial enthusiasm I witnessed at the Hatch was so clear, that I think the ingredients are here (in Sri Lanka) to build on. And to build a really vibrant, thriving technology economy, which can generate revenue and help keep the young, talented people here.

In terms of cyber security and cybercrime, Sri Lanka has seen an increase in issues. There is also a shrinkage of the digital space for democracy and dissent. How can the US help develop capacity-building to combat cyber security threats and crime?

 First, on the space for democracy, we think that it is really important that all points of view are represented in the new broadcast bill that Sri Lanka is drafting. We think that governments should not get into the business of adjudicating what speech is okay and what speech is not. That is important to maintaining a free and vibrant society; that is important to maintaining a free and independent press. It is important to civil society which helps to keep governments and companies in check.

We are grateful to Sri Lanka for signing the Budapest Convention on Cyber Crime. It also shows a sign of leadership in the region. We would also welcome Sri Lanka to sign the counter ransomware initiative, which is a collection of three dozen countries at present.

The US has learnt a lot in our digital journey, which we are ready to share. There is little need to reinvest the wheel in this domain. Some of them can be replicated in Sri Lanka. The US already supports Sri Lanka with some assistance in capacity building.

Photos Krishan KARIYAWASAM