IS DATA THE NEW FRONTIER OF POWER?
Decades have passed since one can consider issues of security at a regional or global level as straight forward melee combat. The number of battle-fronts a country must consider keeps increasing on a regular basis. The most recent tool to be used and targeted is the digital footprint left by any transaction, message or activity in our digital age: data. Unidentifiable resources are invested into gathering as much data as possible to be used for a variety of questionable purposes. How should we reconcile the opportunities and the vulnerabilities that stem with holistic digitalisation? How far should we go to govern the internet, the hardware and the software that enables an unparalleled level of innovation but also the threat of the rise of surveillance capitalism and openings for other national security threats?
Andrejs Vasiljevs, Cofounder and Chairman of the Board of Tilde
Amb Casper Klynge, Vice President of European Government Affairs, Microsoft
Aura Salla, Public Policy Director, Head of EU Affairs at Facebook
Josef Schroefl, Deputy Director of the COI Strategy and Defense, European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats
Moderator: Jānis Sārts, Director, NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
The Rīga Conference has become a unique venue for constructive dialogue on international security issues between leading global decision makers. The event is organized jointly by the Latvian Transatlantic Organisation (LATO), the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia.
The Riga Conference facilitates debates at various levels, engaging high-level politicians, diplomats, experts, as well as local and international media. There are top leaders of the world such as US President George W. Bush, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and heads of states and governments of Baltic areas were speakers of the Rīga Conferences.
Some leaders that will be speaking at the Rīga Conference 2021 are:
H.E. Egils Levits, President of the Republic of Latvia, H.E. Krišjānis Kariņš, Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, Kaja Kallas the first female prime minister of Estonia, H.E. Klaus Iohannis, President of Romania, António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People, Hulusi Akar, Minister of National Defence of Turkey, Mr James Heappey, Minister for the Armed Forces, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, United Kingdom etc.
Link to the conference: https://www.rigaconference.lv/