The Strategies of Policy Response to Global Technological Risks: the Cases of Russia and the EU

Abstract

The article explores the concept of global technological risks and attempts to define their political dimension. The author analyses the «Global Risks Reports» of the World Economic Forum published over the last 16 years, identifies four groups of risks repeatedly highlighted by experts. Based on the results of this research, the author compares the policy response strategies of Russia and the EU to two most recent risks, namely «Adverse outcomes of technological advances» and «Digital power concentration». The results show that Russia and the EU generally resort to similar measures in their policy response strategies. Increasing competition between the technical and economic models of the United States and China and the rise of digital corporations prompt Russia and the EU to strengthen their digital sovereignty. Most notably, both actors develop stricter legislative regulation to contain the activities of «IT giants», as well as foster their own competitiveness, technology development, infrastructural stability and personal data protection rules. Additionally, both Russia and the EU are gradually building a policy response system to prevent unacceptable humanitarian consequences of digital transformation. They combine the development of regulatory frameworks and conceptual approaches with «soft law», such as ethical requirements.

Keywords

• global technological risks
• russia
• european union
• policy response
• risk management
• artificial intelligence