Confluence

We’re in a race today to control one of the world’s most critical resources – microchips – with the United States and China increasingly in conflict. This race for control does not entail just the quantity of chips produced, but also includes efforts to stay steps ahead of the latest developments in design and computing power. In this week’s episode of Confluence, host Rana Sakar is joined by Chris Miller, author of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology, to break down current conflicts in the semiconductor industry and put them into historical context. Chris shares views on policies that support the development of chip fabrication capacity; insights on how semiconductors became the fulcrum of geopolitical and geoeconomic competition; and lessons from this history can be applied today and into the future. LINKSChris Miller websiteChris Miller’s Twitter Chip War (Book)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Climate change is one of the most critical challenges of our generation. On this week’s episode of Confluence, host Rana Sarkar discusses with guest Vijay Vaitheeswaran recent policy developments and the role of technology and innovation in supporting the global transition to net zero. Vaitheeswaran is the Global Energy and Climate Innovation Editor at The Economist, covering the energy and utility industries, the clean energy transition, climate innovations and low carbon technologies. In their conversation, Rana and Vijay discuss timelines for clean energy transitions, and the incentives needed to support the generation and use of clean energy and the adoption of new and emerging technologies to reach net zero. They also discuss how different markets are advancing the clean energy transition and the role of Canada in the global energy transition. LINKS:Vijay Vaitheeswaran ArticlesVijay Vaitheeswaran LinkedInBOOKS:Need, Speed and Greed: How the New Rules of Innovation Can Transform Businesses, Propel Nations to Greatness, and Tame the World's Most Wicked ProblemsPower to the People: How the Coming Energy Revolution Will Transform an Industry, Change Our Lives, and Maybe Even Save the PlanetSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome back for season two of Confluence! On this week’s episode, host Rana Sarkar sits down with James Crabtree, Executive Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies - Asia office to discuss the current geopolitical and geoeconomic moment. Prior to joining the IISS, James was a Singapore-based author and journalist, and an Associate Professor of Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. His best-selling 2018 book, The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age was shortlisted for the FT / McKinsey book of the year. Prior to academia, James worked for the Financial Times, most recently as Mumbai bureau chief, and has written for a wide range of global publications. He also worked as a senior policy adviser in the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit under Tony Blair. Crabtree recently hosted the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, a conference of heightened importance in this critical time in the Indo-Pacific region. In the weeks prior to the conference, we spoke to Crabtree about the wide range of issues facing the Indo-Pacific region including the impact of climate change on our current geopolitical moment; the rise of minilateralism; the evolving posture of the tech sector in the Indo-Pacific; the role of China and how the United States and Canada are engaging in the region.LINKS:James Crabtree WebsiteJames Crabtree TwitterThe 2022 Shangri-La DialogueJames Crabtree May 26, 2022 Financial Times essay - “Still Top Gun? What Tom Cruise’s new movie tells us about American Power”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode of Confluence, host Rana Sarkar sits down with Dr. Janice Stein, founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, to discuss how organizations and leaders must adapt to our rapidly changing geopolitical moment. Dr. Stein shares observations and lessons from years of advising with leaders and organizations allocating scarce resources to respond to rapid scale crises. How can leaders prepare to succeed in today’s uncertain environment and what is the cost of doing nothing? What critical skillsets are needed for organizations to adapt? What new frameworks will be needed as the fourth industrial revolution continues to change how we work and live? How can the private sector and government build co-literacy to improve collaboration going forward? LINKS: Janice Stein, University of Toronto Janice Stein LinkedIn Janice Stein Twitter Janice Stein Wikipedia Canada School of Public Service – The State of the World with Janice Stein See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How does immigration policy impact Canadian tech’s ability to thrive globally? How do flows of both Canadian and foreign talent into and out of the country work? How can the private sector work to actually make companies, and their leadership, more diverse? And what ‘secret sauce’ makes Canada such an amazing place to work?To help us better answer those questions, you’ll hear from two key players working to make Canada’s technology sector more robust and diverse. Host Rana Sarkar speaks to Marco Mendicino—Canada’s former Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship who recently transitioned to become Minister of Public Safety—on the importance of immigration for opportunity, growth, and innovation. The policies that the government creates to foster inclusion and dynamism in the workforce are crucial to creating the kind of ecosystem that Canada has become known for. We also sit down with Andre Charoo, Toronto-born founder of Maple VC, to discuss the Canadian values that give our tech companies a competitive advantage. We discuss how diverse populations increase economic opportunity, and how true diversity in technology will only happen when the people at the very top are representative of the communities they serve.LINKS:Min. Marco Mendicino ProfileMin. Marco Mendicino WebsiteMin. Marco Mendicino LinkedInMin. Marco Mendicino TwitterAndre Charoo LinkedInAndre Charoo TwitterMaple VCC100Andre Charoo on Need to Know PodcastAndre Charoo on Rep Matters VlogSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode of Confluence, we speak with President of Microsoft, Brad Smith. In 2019, Smith penned Tools & Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age, a book which explains how Big Tech has a core responsibility to address the issues and potential harms of the technologies they create. This year, Smith updated the book with a second edition for 2021 that includes new chapters on cybersecurity and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. We spoke to Smith about these updates, and how he’s seen the landscape in Silicon Valley change in the years since the book’s first publishing. How should Government policy makers be engaging with the private sector? What kinds of collaboration can lead to the development of more ethical innovation? And, from the perspective at the helm of one of the most important companies in the world, where is Microsoft headed for the future? LINKS: Brad Smith LinkedIn Brad Smith Twitter Microsoft Homepage Link to Tools & Weapons at Microsoft How Top-Valued Microsoft Has Avoided the Big Tech Backlash Microsoft president Brad Smith on the cloud, tech outages, and Boston’s ‘extraordinary advantage’ Microsoft’s larger lesson from TikTok: Brad Smith on the future of U.S.-China tech relations See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode of Confluence, we’re coming back home and talking about Canada’s role in defining the future of tech. There seems to be a special Canadian sauce that gives us an edge. To help us figure out where Canada belongs in this conversation, we’re talking to three powerhouses in the tech landscape (who also all happen to be Canadian!). First, you’ll hear from C100s Laura Buhler and Chris Albinson, two Canadian expats working in the Bay Area to galvanize the global Canadian tech diaspora . We also sat down with Michelle Zatlyn, founder of Cloudflare, who reveals the differences between Canadian and American cultures within tech and how much community matters within Canada’s growing landscape. Is Silicon Valley confined to its geographical location or has it become so much more than that? How is Gen Z reshaping the way we think and work within tech? Will global pandemic provide an opportunity for Canada to define best business and investment practices for the future? And finally, is there something holding Canada back from being a top player on a global scale?LINKS: Laura Buhler LinkedIn Laura Buhler Twitter Chris Albinson LinkedIn Chris Albinson Twitter Michelle Zatlyn LinkedIn Michelle Zatlyn Twitter C100C100 Twitter CloudFlare Hemispheric Partners: Trade, Technology, and Innovation Ties Between the Bay Area and Canada Globe and Mail - Opinion: Is Canada in line to be the next Silicon Valley? The Logic - Origin Story: Canadians in Silicon Valley CNBC - Why Canada is becoming a start-up mecca rivaling Silicon Valley Business Insider - Why tech companies in Silicon Valley should expand to Canada San Francisco Chronicle - Canada to Silicon Valley’s International Talent: We Want You Forbes - CloudFlare Cofounder Michelle Zatlyn Is New Billionaire As Stock Reaches New High BusinessWire - Cloudflare Announces First Office in Canada to Further Support Canadian Customers, Innovation, and Growth Fortune - Cloudflare Co-Founder Michelle Zatlyn: ‘Somebody Should’ Decide What to Delete Online Silicon Valley Digital: Canadian Technology Accelerator See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode of Confluence, host Rana Sarkar turns to the private and not-for-profit sectors to get the perspective of folks who really understand the human side of technology and the implications of technology policy on real people. To do this, Sarkar speaks with Aza Raskin—Co-Founder of the Center for Humane Technology and the Earth Species Project—as well as Yael Eisenstat—Future of Democracy Fellow at the Berggruen Institute, Founder of Kilele Global risk advisory firm, and former Senior Intelligence Officer for the United States. Coming from diverse backgrounds in engineering, intelligence, and corporate leadership, these two guests understand the harms that misuse of tech can cause to unwitting citizens. These harms are serious, and both guests advocate for a more humane standard for the tech industry that is grounded in supporting rather than exploiting users. In this conversation, Sarkar and his guests discuss the role that public-private partnership in tandem with comprehensive regulation can have in shaping the landscape.Links:Aza Raskin LinkedIn Aza Raskin WebsiteAza Raskin WikipediaYael Eisenstat WebsiteYael Eisenstat LinkedInYael Eisenstat TwitterYael Eisenstat WikipediaCenter for Humane TechnologyEarth Species ProjectBerggruen InstituteKilele GlobalAdditional Resources:Section 230 Debate on Electronic Frontier FoundationSection 230 Debate on The VergeSection 230 review by US Department of JusticeYour Undivided Attention PodcastYael Eisenstat TED TalkYaël Eisenstat: 'Facebook is ripe for manipulation and viral misinformation'What This CIA Veteran Learned Helping Facebook With ElectionsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Confluence! Meet Consul General Rana Sarkar, Canada’s Tech Envoy in Silicon Valley. In this first episode, Sarkar introduces the concept of techplomacy, or technology diplomacy. Over the past five years, Sarkar and his team at the Consulate of Canada in San Francisco have been using diplomacy to help shape the future of technology regulation. To help illustrate this work, Sarkar speaks to Peggy Hicks—Director, Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures, and Right to Development Division at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)— and Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen—Tech Ambassador for Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former Technology and Sustainable Development lead at the World Economic Forum. Both guests are diplomats working at the intersection of human rights and technology policy. Together, they help Sarkar introduce the concept of techplomacy, give examples of this kind of diplomatic work, and describe the global importance of techplomacy—with implications for everyone. Both guests on this episode provide a global perspective that is both rooted in yet extends far beyond Silicon Valley. While their approaches to dealing with the enormous impact of the tech industry may differ, human rights frameworks are a common throughline that many actors can agree upon as a guide for action.Links: Peggy Hicks WEF ProfilePeggy Hicks LinkedInPeggy Hicks TwitterAnne Marie Engtoft Larsen WEF ProfileAnne Marie Engtoft Larsen LinkedInAnne Marie Engtoft Larsen TwitterDanish Tech EmbassyUnited Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human RightsCanada in San Francisco TwitterRana Sarkar TwitterConsulate General of Canada in San FranciscoAdditional Resources:The rise of TechPlomacy in the Bay AreaWhy techplomacy is more important than everIntroducing ‘Techplomacy’: A roundtable with Denmark’s Tech Ambassador - Casper KlyngeAll Tech is Human, August 2020Massey Dialogue, September 2020Dane against the machine: Tech-diplomat aims to protect fundamentals of democracy in digital ageCitizen Lab Submission to the Government of CanadaCanada Digital GovernmentGlobal Affairs CanadaCanada’s Efforts to Support Human RightsCanada and the United StatesFederal Anti-Racism SecretariatSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.