Technology and National Security—Looking to the Future
“Technology and National Security—Looking to the Future“
Speaker: Gerstein, D.
Date: 22 November 2019
Speaker Session Preview
SMA hosted a speaker session presented by Dr. Daniel Gerstein as a part of its SMA DHS CAOE Speaker Series. This is the inaugural speaker session of SMA’s new series, co-hosted by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) Office of University Programs (OUP) and the Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency (CAOE) at Arizona State University. The series is titled “The Age of Disruption—Great Power Competition Implications for Homeland Security.” During his presentation, Dr. Gerstein addressed the following questions: 1) What is technology, and where does it come from?; 2) Can technology be managed?; 3) What is the appropriate balance of discovery and prudence?; 4) What does the history of technology tell us about the future?; and 5) How can we shape a future that is hospitable—or at least not threatening—to humanity? He explained that the history of humankind and technology are inextricably intertwined; humans even measure their progress by the technologies used throughout history. Moreover, technologies are collections of other technologies or systems, and each generation makes improvements to the technologies made by the previous one. This convergence of technologies has led humankind to possess a greater technological capacity and reach than ever before. Furthermore, he stated that technology is inherently dual-use, increasingly disruptive, and highly democratized. Next, Dr. Gerstein discussed six major trends that he observed during his research: 1) the continuing shifts in technology development; 2) the increasing challenge of managing technology development and controlling technology; 3) the emergence of a tech war; 4) the growing competition between humans and computers; 5) the changing expectations for society regarding privacy, liberty, and freedom; and 6) the increasing risk technology poses to humanity. To conclude, Dr. Gerstein spoke about several areas for potential conflict in an increasingly technology-enabled world, including 5G, social media, deep fakes, immigration, the “Big Data Catch-22” (people need to consolidate vast amounts of data, but doing so creates vulnerabilities), the cyber realm, export control, and artificial intelligence.
Bio
Dr. Daniel Gerstein is a national security professional and technology expert who has served the United States not only in senior government positions but also in uniform, in industry, in academia, and in think tanks. As a senior government civilian official, he was acting undersecretary and deputy undersecretary in the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. In this position, he directed the organization’s annual budget of over $1 billion. During his time in the US Army, he served on four continents while participating in combat, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, and homeland security efforts. He also held high-level assignments in the Pentagon for more than a decade. Following retirement from active duty, Dr. Gerstein joined L-3 Communications as Vice President for Homeland Security Services. Before joining DHS, Dr. Gerstein served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy) as Principal Director for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Dr. Gerstein has extensive experience with international negotiations, notably as a member of the Holbrooke Delegation that negotiated the peace settlement in Bosnia. He is a frequent news contributor, and he has published numerous books, articles, and commentaries on a wide variety of national and homeland security issues. He also is a member of several corporate boards and advisory committees. His most recent book is The Story of Technology: How We Got Here and What the Future Holds (Prometheus Books, October 2019).
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