Nate Fick serves as the inaugural U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy, leading the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP, which was launched in 2022).  In this post: a look at the ongoing Cyber and Tech Diplomacy initiatives and operational successes of the CDP under Fick. 

Why is this Important?

• • Ambassador-at-Large for the CDP Fick has been a part of OODAcast conversations with OODA CEO Matt Devost – and we have supported, endorsed, and tracked his and his team’s efforts at the CDP since his appointment was announced in 2022.
  • Like everything, global diplomacy is experiencing digital disintermediation, including the requisite uncertainty and chaos born of a global poly-crisis and exponential technological disruption.
  • The establishment of the CDP in 2022 dovetailed with the 2X exponential growth of global AI and its still uncertain economic and societal impacts  – since the dawn of OpenAI’s ChatGPT – on international relations and the future of global AI governance efforts.  The State Department, Ambassador Fick, and the CDP were well positioned to play a leadership role – and they have done just that for the last two years.
  • Fick recently briefed journalists on U.S. priorities at the United Nations General Assembly, including:
    • Countering spyware;
    • AI for sustainable development; and
    • Protecting and expanding undersea cable networks.
  • Fick’s strategic perspective on what has been coined “Cyber Diplomacy”:
    • “Technology issues are woven into nearly every aspect of our bilateral, multilateral and functional diplomacy, from economic growth to human rights to issues of military force.”
    • “…strategy leads with digital solidarity as a necessary framework because nobody can address these issues alone.”
    • “Digital solidarity is the willingness to work together on shared goals, to strive for aligned regulations and standards, to help partners build capacity, and to provide mutual support. We need to do that among states, of course, but also with companies and civil society organizations in a true multi-stakeholder partnership.”

2022 – 2024:  The Department of State’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP)

The Record | America’s cyber ambassador on how to spend $50 million in foreign aid

Congress gave America’s first cyber ambassador tens of millions of dollars to help other countries respond to hacks and expand secure internet access, and he has a grand vision for how to spend it. The government funding bill that President Joe Biden signed in late March included $50 million for the State Department’s Cyberspace, Digital Connectivity and Related Technologies Fund, which lawmakers created in December.

Why it matters:

1. Cybersecurity’s Geostrategic Importance: The new cyber aid fund is a critical test for Nathaniel Fick, U.S. ambassador-at-large for cyberspace and digital policy, who is tasked with helping partner nations develop secure internet access and improve their responses to cyber attacks. The decisions made regarding the fund‘s allocation could significantly affect the U.S.’s standing in economic competition with adversaries like China and the country’s ability to safeguard allied nations from cyber aggressors.
2. Advancement of Cyber-diplomacy Priorities: The new fund is viewed by the State Department as a key tool in outpacing China in emerging technologies and bolstering U.S. participation in technical working groups and international forums that establish technological standards. Projects that align with these priorities are more likely to receive funding. The fund could also support ‘middle-ground states’ who are somewhat allied with the U.S., but could potentially sway towards adversaries like China and Russia.
3. Strategic and Efficient Funding Allocation: The successful utilization of the fund will require a calculated balance between training partner countries to handle cyber incidents independently and providing emergency aid during unexpected cyber crises. Further, the State Department aims to ensure the funds are invested in projects that deliver long term security benefits over short term relief, so influenced countries do not become overly dependent on the U.S. for cybersecurity.

Cyberspace, Digital Connectivity, and Related Technologies (CDT) Fund

With bipartisan Congressional support, $50 million has been appropriated to the @StateDept’s Cyberspace, Digital Connectivity, and Related Technologies (CDT) Fund. This fund will allow the to deploy flexible, robust programming to int’l partners who need it most. pic.twitter.com/GDM5ll1SB6

— Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (@StateCDP) March 28, 2024

The Record | State Department cyber bureau preps funding blitz aimed at boosting allies’ defenses

The U.S. State Department’s cyber bureau is ready to shell out almost $35 million in foreign aid for an array of projects around the world, as Washington aims to boost the digital acumen of allies and take the lead in shaping international norms for cyberspace ahead of other countries like China.  The spending spree marks a new era for the relatively young Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. Created by Congress in 2022 to strengthen U.S. cyber diplomacy against potential threats and deal with emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, the office has seen its foreign assistance accounts balloon from $17 million to over $90 million. Previously, Foggy Bottom relied on a hodgepodge of authorities, processes, and pots of money, including one-time grants, to help allied nations — especially Ukraine, Albania, and Costa Rica — enhance their cybersecurity after digital assaults.

“The impetus for going through all the effort and the bureaucratic process of creating these mechanisms has largely been based on real-world lessons looking at those places,” according to Nathaniel Fick, State’s ambassador-at-large for cyberspace and digital policy. “I wish we could have gotten dollars out the door a lot faster and selected vendors a lot more quickly.”  He noted Albania in particular, where government services were knocked offline in 2022 following attacks by Iranian hackers. Fick and other U.S. diplomats were among the first on the ground in a show of solidarity with the NATO partner, but “it took months for the follow-on tech assistance to actually flow into place.”  That commitment “would have been faster and more targeted had we had these tools. Now we do have the tools. So, in the future, our response will be faster and more targeted,” Fick told Recorded Future News in an interview last week.

In total, his agency will finalize contracts and agreements for nine projects by October 1—coinciding with the end of the current fiscal year—that range from rapid cyber incident response and countering the misuses of commercial spyware to better safeguarding undersea cables and increasing cloud-based security in the Pacific.

The United States’ International Cyberspace and Digital Policy Strategy

At this year’s RSA Conference, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the release of the United States’ International Cyberspace and Digital Policy Strategy – which we assume was a policy effort led (within State and across all federal agencies) by the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, where Nate Fick remains at the helm. The strategy “focuses on the concept of digital solidarity, which is a willingness to work together on shared goals, to stand together, to help partners build capacity, and to provide mutual support.”  For Secretary Blinken’s  RSA Conference Keynote Speech in May 2024, go to  “Technology and the Transformation of U.S. Foreign Policy”