This course provides advanced interdisciplinary study in Australia’s diplomacy and national strategies for security in cyber space. Taking the normal definition of diplomacy as the management on the international stage of all a country's cross-border interests, the course engages primarily with four questions:
- the information economy as a foundation for national welfare and security;
- privacy and personal security in cyberspace;
- strategies for national security in cyber space;
- Australian diplomacy on these issues.
The World Economic Forum, working with the Australian Industry Group, has painted a picture of Australians as good at uptake of digital technologies for social purposes but weaker at applying them in business and industry. Australia’s economic competitors are moving rapidly into higher levels of digital innovation at the same time as our leading trade partners and neighbours in Asia have unmet demand for services in the digital economy. Inside Australia, the environment for decision-making on policy for the information age is operating on narrow pathways. The picture of our digital economy is one of falling competitiveness and only medium (to low) levels of innovation. New cyber threats and capabilities are emerging on the military and espionage scenes to which Australia must adapt and respond. But the country needs a digital age strategy for its civil sector before it can have a digital military strategy. The experience levels that key decision-makers have of the IT sector do not in many cases match the nature of the diverse problems. Perhaps the Defence organisation in Australia can take something of a lead to reverse this situation in the country as a whole. But it would need to recognise at the outset that the level of expertise in Australia in military applications in this field, as in many other countries, is low. We need new foreign allies in this field. The effort will need to be multi-national, multi-sector and private-public. In grappling with the large problems of national innovation strategies and national security issues, all actors have had to confront the social and legal impacts of advanced information technologies as well. The debate over privacy and metadata laws for security surveillance is just one example of the myriad ethical questions Australia has had to confront. The course positions the student to understand better the profound influences of the new technologies, to appreciate the main policy dilemmas emerging in their exploitation, to develop the ability to undertake critical analyse of the issues, and communicate them accordingly. This course is unique in Australian universities but leading universities abroad have similar courses.
