Select committee: Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 1
Third report - Encoding values: Putting tech at the heart of UK foreign policy
Published 8 Jul 2022
Paragraph 11
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Foreign Affairs Committee Tech and the future of UK foreign policy All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The growing influence of private companies in global technology governance, and on the norms and rules that shape our societies, has profound implications for the future role and identity of the nation-state. The Government has yet to demonstrate that it has seriously considered its role and influence within this new environment and how it might manage the consequences of these shifts in influence and identity. In the forthcoming International Technology Strategy, we recommend that the FCDO clearly articulates what it understands its future role in global tech governance to be and how it intends to engage with private companies and relevant multinational bodies to project UK norms and values in global policy-making fora. We further recommend that the FCDO identifies a Minister with clear responsibility for this work within the Department and sets out how its work interacts with that of other Government departments.
From: Foreign Affairs Committee, Third report - Encoding values: Putting tech at the heart of UK foreign policy (HC 170), paragraph 11, 8 July 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 24 October 2022 (deadline 8 September 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendations for the FCDO" on developing international technology policy, while setting out its approach mainly through the forthcoming International Technology Strategy.
- On the growing influence of private companies, it "accept[s] the Committee's assessment" and says FCDO is expanding its Tech Envoy network to increase engagement with tech companies in different regions.
- On export controls and data, it agrees that data challenges are "a national security liability" but says it does "not believe introducing disproportionate restrictions on data transfers is the right response".
- On FCDO skills, it agrees on the need to "upskill our staff" and commits that FCDO "will also establish a secondment programme with the tech sector", with no date stated.
- On metrics, it "recognise[s] the importance" of them, says performance metrics will sit in an internal implementation plan, and says FCDO "will publish in its annual report and accounts" information on international technology partnerships.