The relationship between technology and public policy is the defining challenge of the current century, according to Bruce Schneier, the keynote speaker at (ISC)² Security Congress 2020 , taking place virtually this week.

“Today technology is deeply intertwined with society. It’s literally creating our world. It’s no longer sustainable for technology and policy to be in different worlds,” said Schneier, a security expert, best-selling author and Fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman-Klein Center for Internet & Society.

When the internet was first commercialized, governments didn’t want to stifle the development of an important and profitable industry. As a result, the internet grew and evolved without any real planning as it became closely linked with financial systems, election systems and so many other aspects of today’s world, Schneier explained.

Limited Technology Understanding

Policymakers have a poor understanding of technology, something that Schneier said was obvious when Congress held hearings on Facebook and its role in shaping public perceptions. Policymakers tend to ignore technology when a better understanding of it doesn’t fit into their political agendas, according to Schneier. Lobbyists, for their part, “are more than happy to provide pseudoscience to match any policy,” Schneier said.

A lack of technology understanding also manifests itself in discussions about the supply chain. Questions in recent years over companies such as Chinese smartphone maker Huawei and Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky are fueled by rhetoric uninformed by technology, he said.

Overlooked in those discussions, he noted, is the fact that technology from U.S. companies typically is designed by multi-country teams and uses components made in other countries. Building an iPhone in the United States without components or people from other countries wouldn’t be viable, he said. “It will cost 10 times more and no one will buy it.” In addition, he noted, backdoors have been built into U.S.-made products by agencies such as the National Security Agency (NSA).

There has been a conflict between law enforcement and technologists over whether to make security data available to law enforcement agencies to help them solve crimes. Technologists resist doing so because they say it would make their products inherently less secure. Schneier said there’s a benefit to providing the data to law enforcement but it is countered by the benefit of making the products more secure.

The problem comes down, he said, to a lack of understanding between technologists and everyone else. And it’s something that needs to change.

Public Interest Technologists

While Schneier admitted he doesn’t have all the answers to the challenges associated with technology and the potential for cyber mischief, he acknowledged that technologists need to be more attuned to the people who use technology and societal needs in general. He proposed the creation of a “public interest technologist” role that mirrors public interest law.

This role would be embedded into the design and creation of products from the start to help ensure technologies are developed with social, economic and political interests in mind. This will help us deal head-on with moral issues created or augmented by technology.

The timing for this is especially relevant right now as technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and 5G gain traction. All of them will have a significant impact on society and they raise concerns over cybersecurity and how they are used in general. For instance, Schneier said, it’s possible that AI engines could at some point become cyber attackers themselves.

“The core issues of society are technological. Everything we do has a moral dimension and we need to deliberately engage in that dimension,” he said. Policy and technology need to work together. “Every major policy debate of this century will have a major tech component. We need different voices and different expertise because we are all in this together.”