Vera Zakem
Contributor
Vera Zakem is a senior technology and policy advisor at the Institute for Security and Technology where she leads efforts on democracy and technology and is the founder of Zakem Global Strategies. From 2020-2021, she served as a member of the bipartisan Task Force on U.S. Strategy to Support Democracy and Counter Authoritarianism.
The TechCrunch Global Affairs Project examines the increasingly intertwined relationship between the tech sector and global politics.
This week, President Biden will gather leaders from over 100 countries to attend his long-promised virtual Summit for Democracy. After a year of consultation, coordination and action, these leaders will come together once more for a second summit to report on progress on the initial set of commitments to protect human rights, counter authoritarianism and corruption.
Having been born in the former Soviet Union, I cannot help but feel a deep sense of optimism about the summit. Even as a very young child, I felt the chill that came from living in a place that restricted freedom of expression and speech and where information and just about every aspect of life were greatly controlled by the state or a select few in power. My personal experiences make me grateful to be an American citizen. But having lived under an authoritarian regime, I’m acutely sensitive to the reasons this summit is taking place: the democratic recession taking place around the world.
No area is as critical in this democratic competition as technology. If leaders hope to make progress on the three cor …
