Event Recap: How to Deepen Transatlantic Ties in AI and Cybersecurity
Source: Center For Data Innovation Published: April 24, 2020
Existing transatlantic cooperation and frameworks offer great potential to address rising threats in AI and cybersecurity, but joint solutions will require interoperable frameworks, common data standards, and the involvement of a broader network of actors to address these challenges effectively, according to panelists at a webinar hosted on April 22 by the Center for Data Innovation.
The scale of challenges to AI-systems’ security requires global cooperation, said Eline Chivot, senior policy analyst at the Center for Data Innovation. As the United States, Canada, the EU and other like-minded countries share values and economic interests, they could take the lead for more effective joint initiatives in this domain.
Panelists agreed that although the transatlantic relationship provides a strong basis to deal with cybersecurity, AI and cybersecurity remain a policy and operational field in development. This does provide an opportunity to build security policy frameworks collaboratively and coherently, so as to scale them up more easily than in other domains where regulations already exist and are harder to harmonize. Dr. José Marie Griffiths, president of Dakota State University, referred to recent work by the U.S. National Security Council on AI as an illustration of the growing recognition of the need to further cultivate transatlantic ties in this area. In particular, the Council recommends the United States and allied governments create a national security point of contact for government-wide AI collaboration, and to conduct an assessment of each ally’s strengths in AI.
Yet government-led solutions are not effective enough to tackle issues AI and cybersecurity intersect, argued Cameron Kerry, distinguished visiting fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. Cybersecurity and AI require a move from a state-led approach towards more integrated structures involving multiple actors, such as private sector organizations, civil society, and academic partners. Florian Pennings, cybersecurity policy manager for EU government affairs at Microsoft, added that the EU already has existing cooperation models, frameworks, and regulations such as the NIS directive, and an organization such as the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) can play a role in certification. Transatlantic allies could leverage these tools to identify public-private collaboration opportunities—which would be beneficial to companies that can share expertise and information globally while contributing to security.