Essay on Harnessing Technology for National Security, International Competitiveness, and Economic Growth

Digital technologies are a critical determinant of national security, international competitiveness, and economic growth. Technologies improve the organizations and citizens' lives; therefore, organizations advocating innovation, including governments, should understand the technological forces that surround them and look for ways to harness them for the benefit of customers and citizens (Mazarr et al., 2018). In the future technological development will play a critical role in defining the competitive position and the national security posture of the United States. Although emerging technologies will present new development opportunities, they may also insert risks and challenges to national security and economic growth as a whole (Mazarr et al., 2018). The federal government should thus capitalize on its development opportunities and successfully control the risks associated it the trends of digital technology, manage the competitive pressure, and advance with the ever-increasing technological change. This report presents the public and private industry executive committee with various views and information on the influence of developing technology on national security. It further incentivizes and gives recommendations on how United States security, technological, and economic competitiveness can be managed in the future (Mazarr et al., 2018).

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The digital economy has an intensive influence on the world's trajectory and the societal well-being of the citizens; thus, it affects resource allocation by the state, income distribution, and economic growth (Montgomery, 2017). Currently, China is ambitiously investing not only to close the technological gap with the United States but also to invert it. China, together with other adversaries, exploits its wide range of tools and resources to quickly acquire the fast-paced technologies developing inside the adrenalized ecosystems to take the lead in the advancement of technology, superiority, and economic security (Montgomery, 2017). China is seen to target United States businesses and startups for investment and technology opportunities. For instance, Chinese investment in United States technology companies rose to $9.9B in 2015, leading to an increase of 185% from 2013 to 2015 (Foster et al., 2020). United States government Research and Development (R&D) investment is one factor to measure and analyze government response to global competitive space; however, the state's R&D investment is currently declining. In 1962-2017, there was a 68% decline in R&D expenditures as a percentage of the Federal Budget (Foster et al., 2020).

Chinese investment thus creates a national security and innovation dilemma for United States companies by deploying various means to acquire American technology (Montgomery, 2017). China has comprehensive techniques managed at the state level and harmonizes direct industrial intelligence and foreign direct investment across five-year cycles to dominate key technology. The conflict between national security and technology development is the recent activity of the United States towards the Chinese company, ZTE. However, due to sanctions and national security concerns, it remains undecided whether ZTE will be able to participate in the United States marketplace (Montgomery, 2017).

The technology used for intelligence, military, and other national security has been the state's primary developmental driver. However, disputes by corporations and private employees over the use of technology for some applications are relatively emerging. For instance, Amazon's facial recognition program, Rekognition, currently shares some information with certain law enforcement agencies, has raised privacy, civil, and ethical concerns about the legal usage and data sharing possibilities. According to the exchange-traded notes (ETNs) survey, items like cybersecurity and network infrastructure were identified as the most critical emerging technology fields in which the United States should be investing. In addition, innovation is driven by the focused United States' attention to geopolitical threats; the importance of focus is well-illustrated by various modern technological breakthroughs with origins in geopolitical struggles, ranging from space flight to the computer thus the need for cybersecurity. However, the state concentrates on technological innovation benefits but the relatively narrow goal of improving the warfighters' capabilities to fight asymmetric threats; as a result, the United States would be ceding its technological leadership to China in the future.

Cybersecurity and Network Infrastructure

Technology advancement is mostly based on seamless connectivity; as the digital transformation continues, the state continues to develop a more connected and cohesive society. Various data, including confidential information, are now shared and used by more platforms in the data center on the cloud and event on the internet of things (IoT) devices (Isaacs, 2019). Due to the increase in data sharing, cybersecurity has become a concern for businesses and organizations of all sizes across every industry, including the governmental sectors (Isaacs, 2019). Cyber-attacks are one of the fastest-growing crimes in the United States, thus increasing the cost to businesses and government expenditure. However, due to the progression of digital technology, cyber-attacks will continue to grow as cybercriminals become more intelligent and more advanced with every passing year (Isaacs, 2019). According to the Cybersecurity Ventures report, cyber-crimes may cost the global economy $6 trillion yearly by the end of 2021 up from $3 trillion in 2015 (Isaacs, 2019). The report noted that ransomware alone costs the business $ 11.5 billion in 2019 and may cost $20 billion by 2021; therefore, it can disrupt business operations and critical services by the federal government (Isaacs, 2019).

There is a new competition or cold war taking place online as Eastern and Western powers increasingly separate their intelligence and technologies; this can be seen in the ongoing trade feud between China and the United States (Isaacs, 2019). Cyber-attacks are increasingly being used as proxy conflicts among developing countries funded and enabled by developed nations looking to consolidate and extend their own global influence. Critical infrastructure and utilities continue to be a prime target of cyber-attacks, as was evidenced in the South African and United States utility companies (Isaacs, 2019). The recent attacks on the United States companies by suspected Chinese state hackers and the ransomware attack rocked City Power in Johannesburg, South Africa. Russia and China have engaged in an increasing number of cyber-attacks for years. Still, this threat grows strong with other countries like North Korea and Iran also actively involving in cyber-attacks. Therefore, the state needs to strengthen and advance cyber defenses around their critical infrastructure and national security as a whole.

Some of the emerging issues include the continued use of Artificial Intelligence (IA) as a proxy for crime and (IA) may also be used to accelerate security responses in the future (Allen & Chan, 2017). Artificial Intelligence-based propaganda of fake news was evidence in the United States elections in 2016 (Allen & Chan, 2017). Political campaigns dedicated resources to creating specialized teams that orchestrated and spread false stories to undermine their opponents (Allen & Chan, 2017). Since security solutions are often based on the detection engines built on human-made logic, therefore, keeping up-to-date security defense across the new technologies and devices should be a priority concern of the federal government (Allen & Chan, 2017). Currently, cybercriminals are also beginning to take advantage of developing technologies and artificial intelligence to help them probe networks to build more evasive malware (Allen & Chan, 2017).

As 5G networks are yet to be used, the use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices will increase dramatically (Isaacs, 2019). Since IoT devices and their connections to clouds and networks are still a weak link in security, 5G networks might increase various 5th generation cyber-attacks and massively increase networks' vulnerability to large scale. Mobile banking malware has grown over the years and continues to increase daily; this might be due to access to payment data, credentials, and funds by the cybercriminals (Isaacs, 2019). They trick the device users and consumers into calling or inputting some information on their devices, thus handing them their data (Kania & Costello, 2017). Access to the payment data might also be used to hack bank accounts and other essential governmental industries since the cybercriminals can easily access the employees' details, including login passwords to the employers' websites (Isaacs, 2019). Trends and advancement of technology usually present development opportunities to society and economic growth; however, it also increases risks for organizations and the state as a whole. For instance, 5G mobile technology will transform internet communication and allow billions of new devices to come online (Isaacs, 2019). Businesses and society, in general, are likely to benefit from 5G networks in the future; developments such as AI, IoT, ML, and autonomous vehicles are expected to revolutionize many aspects of daily life, business, and the society as a whole (Kania & Costello, 2017). However, from a cyber-security perspective, 5G will present a higher risk and new challenges to the state (Kania & Costello, 2017). Organizations and the country as a whole will have to change or restructure their cybersecurity strategies accordingly due to the new risks emerging and more devices potentially threatening networks. Cybersecurity will automatically increase the expenditure and resource allocation by both the business organizations and the federal government (Isaacs, 2019).

Organizations already more significantly, but the level of understanding about security in the cloud remains low; therefore, the security solutions need to be more flexible, cloud-based architectures, and improved to deliver scalable protection at speed.

Conclusion

Due to the ever-growing use of personal data with the IoT devices and the sharing of data like the case of Amazon, the state, therefore, needs a more holistic approach to IoT security. The state should combine traditional and new controls to protect these ever-growing networks across all organizations sectors and governmental industries. Due to the increase in the competitive forces, it is recommended that the federal government should recognize the urgency associated with the global competition for economic superiority and digital technological development. The government should also select and commit the appropriate resources and contribute to the environment that leverages the best from the United States' innovation and educational base. It should expand and modernize the processes for the development and dissemination of technology, especially in cybersecurity and network infrastructure. Since some public and private sectors like Amazon share confidential information with some governmental industry, thus increasing the risk of access to confidential information by cybercriminals. Therefore, the federal government should identify a strategic system for investment and effectively integrate policy, technology, and resources from private and public sectors to successfully enable and posture the United States to remain competitive.

Stabilize technology developments within the United States regulate the public and private stakeholder relationships, thus...