FP Virtual Dialogue: Securing Our Digital Future

As Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith leads a team of more than 1,500 business, legal and corporate affairs professionals located in 54 countries and operating in more than 120 nations. He plays a key role in spearheading the company’s work on critical issues involving the intersection of technology and society, including cybersecurity, privacy, artificial intelligence, environmental sustainability, human rights, immigration and philanthropy. In his recent bestselling book, coauthored with Microsoft’s Carol Ann Browne, Tools and Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age, Smith urges the tech sector to assume more responsibility and calls for governments to move faster to address the challenges that new technologies are creating.  The New York Times has called Smith “a de facto ambassador for the technology industry at large” and The Australian Financial Review has described him as “one of the technology industry’s most respected figures.” He has testified numerous times before the U.S. Congress and other governments on these key policy issues.

In addition to his work at Microsoft, Smith is active in several civic organizations and in the broader technology industry. He has served on the Netflix board of directors since 2015 and chairs the board of directors of both Kids in Need of Defense and the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship program.

Smith attended Princeton University, where he met his wife, Kathy. He earned his J.D. from Columbia University Law School and studied international law and economics at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland.

Eric Goldstein serves as the Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) as of February 19, 2021. In this role, Goldstein leads CISA’s mission to protect and strengthen federal civilian agencies and the nation’s critical infrastructure against cyber threats.

Previously, Goldstein was the Head of Cybersecurity Policy, Strategy, and Regulation at Goldman Sachs, where he led a global team to improve and mature the firm’s cybersecurity risk management program. He served at CISA’s precursor agency, the National Protection and Programs Directorate,from 2013 to 2017 in various roles including Policy Advisor for Federal Network Resilience, Branch Chief for Cybersecurity Partnerships and Engagement, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity, and Senior Counselor to the Under Secretary.

At other points in his career, Goldstein practiced cybersecurity law at an international law firm, led cybersecurity research and analysis projects at a federally-funded research and development center, and served as a Fellow in Advanced Cyber Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, among other roles.

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Georgetown University School of Public Policy, and Georgetown University Law Center.

Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu assumed her position as Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs on 1 May 2017. Prior to taking on this post, Ms. Nakamitsu served as Assistant Administrator of the Crisis Response Unit at the United Nations Development Programme.

She has many years of experience within and outside the United Nations system, most recently as Special Adviser Ad Interim on Follow-up to the Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants between 2016 and 2017. She was previously Director of the Asia and the Middle East Division of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and Director of the Department’s Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training.

Between 2005 and 2008, Ms. Nakamitsu was Professor of International Relations at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, where she also served as a member of the Foreign Exchange Council to Japan’s Foreign Minister, and as a visiting senior adviser on peacebuilding at the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Between 1998 and 2004, she was the Chef de Cabinet and Director of Planning and Coordination at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Nakamitsu was a member of the United Nations Reform Team of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan. She also held positions with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, including within the office of Assistant High Commissioner for Policy and Operations Sergio Vieira de Mello, and in UNHCR field operations in the former Yugoslavia, Turkey and northern Iraq.

Ms. Nakamitsu holds a Master of Science degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Law degree from Waseda University in Tokyo.

She is married and has two daughters.

Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), was born in Thun, Switzerland, in 1956. He studied history and international law in Bern, where he was awarded a doctorate. In 1987, he entered the Swiss diplomatic service, where he held various positions in Bern and Pretoria before being transferred to New York in 1996 as deputy permanent observer at the Swiss mission to the United Nations. In 2000, he was appointed ambassador and head of the human security division in the political directorate of the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern. In 2004, Maurer was appointed ambassador and permanent representative of Switzerland to the UN in New York. In this position, he worked to integrate Switzerland, which had only recently joined the UN, into multilateral networks. In June 2009, the UN General Assembly elected Maurer chairman of the Fifth Committee, in charge of administrative and budgetary affairs. In addition, he was elected chairman of the Burundi configuration of the UN Peacebuilding Commission. In January 2010, Maurer was appointed secretary of state for foreign affairs in Bern and took over the reins of the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs, with its five directorates and some 150 Swiss diplomatic missions around the world. He succeeded Jakob Kellenberger as ICRC president on July 1, 2012. Under his leadership, the ICRC carries out humanitarian work in more than 80 countries. Maurer’s priorities for his presidency include strengthening humanitarian diplomacy, engaging states and other actors for the respect of international humanitarian law, and improving the humanitarian response through innovation and new partnerships.

Moliehi Makumane is a cyber diplomat committed to a multistakeholder, multidisciplinary approach to ICTs Policy to promote development, peace and security. As an expert advisor to United Nations GGE, she advocates for developing countries' perspectives and contributions to cyber global governance including global cyber capacity building agenda. Moliehi frequently speaks and lectures on the development of capacity building for diplomats and cyber specialists.

Stéphane Duguin has spent two decades analyzing how technology is weaponized against vulnerable communities. In particular, he has investigated multiple instances of the use of disruptive technologies, such as AI, in the context of counter terrorism, cybercrime, cyberoperations, hybrid threats, and the online use of disinformation techniques. He leads the CyberPeace Institute with the aim of holding malicious actors to account for the harms they cause. His mission is to coordinate a collective response to decrease the frequency, impact, and scale of cyberattacks by sophisticated actors.

Prior to this position, Stéphane Duguin was a senior manager and innovation coordinator at Europol. He led key operational projects to counter both cybercrime and online terrorism, such as the European Cybercrime Centre, the Europol Innovation Lab, and the European Internet Referral Unit. He is a thought leader in digital transformation and convergence of disruptive technologies. With his work published in major media, his expertise is regularly sought in high-level panels where he focuses on the implementation of innovative responses to counter new criminal models and large-scale abuse of cyberspace.

Allison oversees all global research and analysis. She counsels clients on current and prospective market, policy, and security developments with a focus on emerging trends, scenario planning, strategic foresight. Prior to this role, Carlson led FP Analytics’ energy and technology team for over a decade. Prior to FP Analytics (formerly Garten Rothkopf), Carlson led the Latin America program for an international consulting firm assisting European companies investing in emerging markets’ energy and financial sectors. She received her master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in international relations and international economics.

Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy. Before joining FP, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade, including his most recent position as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. Previously, he served as a senior producer in CNN’s New York and London bureaus, receiving a Peabody Award and three Emmy nominations for his work. Agrawal is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy. He is a graduate of Harvard University.