The world is riddled with talk of national security, closing borders, building walls and leaving treaties to “go it alone”. It is easy to forget that whilst governments are national in nature, crime and terrorism are global and do not respect national borders; I can’t help but believe that we need greater collaboration and integration and not less in order be safe and secure.
Fortunately, the Commonwealth and the UN have no such problems; by their nature they operate in networks to collaborate across many issues from modern slavery and child poverty to cybercrime. New ways of solving such problems are being enabled by technology that also requires a change to the way we think and operate; from a step-by-step to a networked approach.
And the change, a willingness to use technology, is being driven by who? … Lawyers.
Lawyers such as the people in the picture who were with me in Australia for 3 days discussing how the power of international networks enabled by technology can keep us ahead of the dark forces that threaten our way of life. Lawyers who also ensure that the governments are forced to abide by the rule of law.
We talked at length; shared ideas; exchanged best practice. Not once did I detect “not invented here” – just a sincere and open exchange of information with the goal of making it easier to get the job done. The outcome was a clear declaration of how to work together and the commitment to trial new technology to help their network of electronic evidence professionals be more effective.
It’s truly a privilege working with the Governance and Peace Directorate of the Commonwealth Secretariat (ComSec) to enable greater cross-border cooperation, through the use of secure messaging technology and blockchain, in the fight against conventional crime, cybercrime and terrorism.
The power of technology to enable networks for the greater good; to keep us safe; to protect people and the rule of law. That’s something to shout about.