The role of technology in the security and resilience of small states: the example of Estonia

Please join the Program on Geopolitics, Technology, and Governance on Thursday, April 25th at 10 AM Pacific for a talk with Kairi Talves, a visiting scholar from the Estonian Military Academy. At this event, co-sponsored by Stanford University Libraries, Kairi Talves will be presenting her research about the role of technology in strengthening national security and resilience in small countries

About the session:
Kairi Talves' public talk at Stanford, “The role of technology in the security and resilience of small states: the example of Estonia ”, hosted by Stanford's Program on Geopolitics, Technology, and Governance, will address the role technology plays in today's society, including its impact on the security and defense of countries. In the future, the level of technological innovation and the ability to adopt new technologies will increasingly affect the balance of power and the formation of alliances between the states. In this perspective, for the small countries that are not shaping major technological trends or defining future global threats, it is important to find strategic modes of action. The presentation will draw on the research of Estonia to discuss the role of technology in shaping the national security and resilience of a small state in the face of a superior adversary. It reflects on the opportunities and challenges related to the factors of Estonian technological and societal development after regaining its independence in the 1990s.
 
Kairi Talves, currently a Global Digital Governance Fellow at Stanford University, is a Scientific Adviser at the Estonian Ministry of Defence and a Visiting Researcher at the Estonian Military Academy. She has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Tartu. Her main research interests cover the different aspects of technology in society: societal development and change (e.g., technological developments) and their social impact, people’s attitudes and coping in the context of rapid societal changes, public acceptance of technology and technology in the military: risks, trust, acceptance, ethical aspects, challenges of human-machine interaction, cognitive warfare, innovation of military organizations, technology, and states’ power balance. She has published a number of research papers in international journals and chapters in edited volumes. Together with Prof. Dierk Spreen from the University of Bundeswehr Munich, she is the co-editor of the book “Technology in the Military Now: Sociological, Cultural, and Ethical Perspectives,” which is planned to be published in Springer in 2025.