Our New Visiting Fellow: Lukasz Olejnik

To be fair, ‘we live in interesting times’. One of the dimensions of those interesting times is the much closer link between policy and legal issues and technology. Think of the previous 100 years when ‘Science and Technology (S&T) was merely a component, often a footnote. Now it's its prime time. No wonder why, technology plays a crucial role in world developments. But it also encompasses social and human interactions as a whole. Merely keeping an eye on it is insufficient — devoted programmes must exist. My view of the Geneva Academy is of a place close to the thinking and considerations of important elements relating to standards, rules, and international law, so to say. And today, links with tech themes clearly abound. A proper understanding of the field is necessary. I am very happy to be able to contribute to that effort!

I’ll be happy to contribute to the humanitarian impact arm of works, of course in terms of the links to technology, including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence drones and UAVs, or even such aspects like quantum computing! We’re currently seeing some developments before our eyes — I’m speaking of the armed conflict in Ukraine. I’m prepared to offer informed insight.

Also of note, I’ll be working on, and finishing, my book on cybersecurity. It’s equally broad and includes aspects of technology, legal issues, policy avenues, international law, diplomacy, military. I’ll also explain what cyberwar is…

The question of ‘what are the rules of cyberwarfare’ is indeed important. It is of immediate use, considering the war in Ukraine, for one. But in general, it is a culmination of technological developments spanning the previous 40 years. It all brought us to this place, and those aspects are not static. Technology developments accelerate. For example, a few decades ago you could maybe imagine an S&T story in policy journals a few times a decade. Today it is commonplace. I expect that the whole century will look exactly like that. So there we go — it is absolutely critical to have a proper understanding of these aspects.

I hope it could bring some small contribution to keeping apace of the current developments and events. I also hope that my creative stir will benefit the Geneva Academy in the longer term.

I’d appreciate further tidying up of standards-law-tech understanding.