The Geopolitics of Technology Forum is being co-hosted by the Yale Chapter of the Geopolitics of Technology Initiative, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Next Generation Diplomacy in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit, the Special Competitive Studies Project, the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy, the NobleReach Foundation, Beacon Global Strategies, and the Yale Schmidt Program on AI, Emerging Tech, and National Power on April 11 and 12. The Forum will bring top students with STEM and foreign policy backgrounds from across the country to DC to explore the intersection of technology and international relations. The inaugural topic is “Tech Cooperation and Competition in the Indo-Pacific.” The conference will feature numerous speakers from the US government, tech firms, and think tanks, as well as a Career Fair with recruiters from government agencies, companies, and nonprofits in tech and national security. 


The Forum will begin on Thursday, April 11 with the Career Fair, which will be from 3:30 to 5:30 pm EST at the Shaw Ballroom of Courtyard by Marriott Washington Downtown/Convention Center (901 L St NW, Washington, DC 20001). All attendees’ resumes will be sent to the organizations at the Career Fair. The main conference will be on Friday, April 12 from 8 am to around 5:30 pm at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036). 


If you're interested in attending the Career Fair on April 11, all you need to do is fill out the form below. If you would like to attend the conference as well on April 12 and do not need housing/travel covered, please fill out the form AND wait for confirmation from our side as we have very limited spots available. If you're representing an organization seeking to have a table at the Career Fair, please let us know in the form below, and we will send you a confirmation email once we confirm that we can include your group. Set-up will be from 3 to 3:30 pm and breakdown/clean-up will be from 5:30 to 6 pm. 


The confirmed organizations so far at the Career Fair are the U.S. State Department, the Defense Innovation Unit (from the U.S. Department of Defense), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, Palantir, Scale AI, Exiger, 3rd Eye, Rhombus Power, the Special Competitive Studies Project, the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Beacon Global Strategies, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation’s National Security Innovation Base Program, the NobleReach Foundation, and the RAND Technology and Security Policy Center.

Confirmed Keynote Speakers

Ylli Bajraktari

President and CEO of the Special Competitive Studies Project and former Chief of Staff to the National Security Advisor

Doug Beck

Director, Defense Innovation Unit and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense

Anna Shpitsberg

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Transformation at the U.S. Department of State

Dr. Seth Center

Acting Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology at the State Department

Arun Gupta

CEO of the NobleReach Foundation and Author of "Venture Meets Mission"

Agenda on April 12

7:45 - 8:15: Registration

8:15 - 8:25: Opening Remarks by Rukmini Bannerjee and Pranav Pattatathunaduvil  

8:25 - 8:40: Keynote by Ylli Bajraktari (CEO of SCSP)

8:45 - 9:35: Panel on AUKUS and the Defense Industrial Base

9:35 - 9:45: Coffee Break 

9:45 - 10:35: Panel on Scaling and Securing Clean Energy in the Indo-Pacific

10:35 - 10:45: Coffee Break 

10:45 - 11:00: Keynote by Arun Gupta (CEO of NobleReach Foundation) 

11:05 - 11:55: Panel on the Future of AI in the US and China  

11:55 - 12:40: Lunch  

12:40 - 12:55: Keynote by Anna Shpitsberg (Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Transformation) 

1:00 - 1:30: Fireside Chat with Dr. Seth Center (Acting Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Tech at State)  

1:35 - 2:25: Panel on Semiconductor Competition in the Indo-Pacific

2:25 - 2:40: Coffee Break

2:40 - 3:30: Panel on the Promise and Peril of Biotechnology  

3:35 - 4:05: China and Taiwan Trip Briefing by the Yale Jackson School 

4:10 - 5:00: Simultaneous Panels on Achieving the Quad’s Tech Potential and Strengthening Connectivity in the Indo-Pacific  

5:00 - 5:15: Coffee Break 

5:15 - 5:40: Presentations by Yale Policy Institute’s Tech Policy Center and Apollo Defense

5:40 - 5:55: Closing Speech by Doug Beck (Director of the Defense Innovation Unit)

5:55 - 6:00: Concluding Remarks

Registration

Partners and Sponsors

Yale Schmidt Program on AI, Emerging Technologies, and National Power
The Special Competitive Studies Project
National Security Innovation Network at the Defense Innovation Unit 
Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy
Apollo Defense at Georgetown University
Beacon Global Strategies
NobleReach Foundation
Next-Gen Diplomacy

Interested in becoming a sponsor?

Reach out to Pranav (pranav.pattatathunaduvil@yale.edu) or Shankara (shankara.abbineni@yale.edu) for more information.