Griffith Asia Institute hosts Australia-India-Japan Trilateral
IAN HALL |
On Friday 10 February 2023, GAI will host an Australia-India-Japan Trilateral conference, the latest in a series that started in 2017. These Track II dialogues bring scholars and analysts from universities and think tanks to Brisbane to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern to all three countries.
The topic of this year’s conversation is “Digital Challenges and Political Resilience in the Indo-Pacific”. It recognises that states and societies across the Indo-Pacific face an evolving set of challenges arising from our reliance on digital systems to communicate, transfer payments, operate infrastructure, conduct elections, and maintain social stability.
Some of those challenges are technical, concerning the robustness of the hardware and software we use, but some are also political, concerning the effects of misinformation or disinformation rapidly spreading through online social networks. These challenges demand cooperation between governments and within states, between governments, public institutions, businesses, the media, and civil society organisations to ensure that the digital world remains rule governed and secure.
The conference will identify persistent and emerging online threats to regional political resilience, best practice in responding to those threats in ways that uphold free and open societies and secure political institutions, and areas where Japan, India, and Australia could work together to build the necessary capacity to manage these challenges.
The 2023 Trilateral involves participants from the Japan Institute of International Affairs in Tokyo and the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, as well as from Griffith University and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Professor Ian Hall is the Acting Director of the Griffith Asia Institute.