The Department of State has begun operating its new Office of the Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology to help develop and coordinate foreign policy on emerging and critical technologies.
Seth Center, a national security expert and historian, will serve as deputy envoy and oversee the buildout of the newly created office, the State Department said Tuesday.
State Secretary and Wash100 awardee Antony Blinken formed the new office as part of a modernization effort as critical and emerging technologies become part of the U.S. foreign policy and diplomacy amid the increasing competition to build and field new technologies.
The office will bring technological policy expertise, diplomatic leadership and strategic direction to the department’s work surrounding these technologies.
It will also collaborate with the department’s other offices and bureaus that are pursuing technology topics and work with international partners on artificial intelligence, advanced computing, biotechnology and quantum information technologies.
