Stakeholders from industry, government, NGOs, and academia need to ensure international export controls standards are implemented for dual-use technologies and that they will not be accessible to actors that have malicious intentions
Emerging technology and military application
One of SPNET’s key areas of research is the emergence of dual-use technology and military applications of autonomous (including unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs]), AI, and cyberspace technologies that could adversely impact commonly recognized global norms and standards.
‘Drones can provide relief in disaster areas, but they can also drop bombs — that’s dual-use technology.
How to best regulate emerging dual-use technology and its potential military application?’
SPNET is studying the impact of dual-use technologies on society, with an eye to developing policy that incorporates legal frameworks, human rights standards and ethical considerations.
SPNET research supports the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces
SPNET researchers are exploring:
- how stakeholders from the private and defence sectors can connect to facilitate innovation
- what are the instruments and mechanisms that can allow for increased combination and integration of capabilities to enable the connected battlespace
- how champions of the public well-being and interested stakeholders can uphold, claim, and exercise their rights and responsibilities
- How regulations can help champions uphold those rights without limiting innovation
