We’ve reached a point where the U.S. government has no problem directly accusing China of hacking into American computer systems — so it’s probably time for a sit down.

The United States and China have both agreed to talks over cybersecurity and espionage attempts, the New York Times reports. President Obama and China’s President Xi Jinping will kick things off with an informal meeting in Rancho Mirage, California next month.

China hasn’t admitted to any U.S. hacking at this point, despite evidence from security experts and the Pentagon. “China is using its computer network exploitation capability to support intelligence collection against the U.S. diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support U.S. national defense programs,” a Pentagon report said earlier this month.

Just last week, China was also blamed for a shockingly extensive hack on Australia’s spy, defense, and foreign affairs agencies (among others). Google ended up moving its search engine out of mainland China and to Hong Kong in response to cyberattacks, and it later singled out Chinese hackers as the source of sophisticated attacks against White House officials and human rights representatives.

U.S. officials don’t expect the talks to lead to any dramatic solutions immediately, according to the NYT, but they could serve as a way to set up some good behavior standards between the two countries. While we’ve had plenty of time to determine rules of engagement for warfare and espionage in the real world, things are less clear in the cyber arena.

Chinese flag photo via Shutterstock

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

In her final press conference last week, Hillary Clinton made a brief reference to the Alliance for Affordable Internet. This initiative seeks to expand affordable internet access to people in developing countries where a minority of the population is online and there is a strong need to create economic opportunities. It represents a public-private partnership between the State Department, the World Wide Web Foundation, and large tech companies such as Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Intel.

As Secretary of State, Clinton focused heavily on creating programs that promote international commerce. The theme of the conference was to celebrate the global impact of the many public-private partnerships formed under her tenure and to celebrate the launch of four new initiatives, including the Alliance for Affordable Internet, which collectively are valued at around $86.5 million.

“In the 21st century, diplomacy and development is not in any way confined to government-to-government relations,” she said. “Those have to be tended, those have to be respected, those have to be nurtured and grown, but at the same time, in this increasingly inner connected networked world, we wanted to reach out people to people […] Many of the challenges we face extend beyond traditional political and geographic divisions. How do we grow the global economy and give those hundreds of millions of young people, men and women a chance at a decent job?”

Access to the internet and digital literacy skills are vital for securing gainful employment, both at home and abroad. Clinton stated that only 25% of people in developing countries are online, as opposed to 75% in the developed world. A “key element” of economic growth and innovation is to lessen this gap and “help the next billion people come online.” Making the internet more accessible and affordable is a stepping stone towards economic independence and empowerment.

In an article this morning, Bloomberg reporter Elizabeth Dwoskin delved deeper into the story surrounding the Alliance and its implications. “If successful, the project could end up helping many people in poor countries get onto the Web. It could also cement long-term ties between the State Department and the companies- while opening new markets and reaching new customers for Silicon Valley.”

Dwoskin interviewed Ann Mei Chang, a “25-year veteran of Silicon Valley” who left her job as  senior engineering director at Google to join the State Department in November of 2011. Chang moved to Nairobi, Kenya which many have pegged as Africa’s emerging tech hub, and began investing why Kenya has had greater technological success than its neighbors. She said that in most developing countries, an entry-level internet connections can cost as much as an individual’s monthly income. This is primarily due to high taxes on equipment like computers, mobile phones, and modems; a lack of the physical infrastructure (IXPs) to support the Web; and telecommunications monopolies that limit access to infrastructure or make it prohibitively expensive to set up.

Addressing these barriers is a critical part of making the internet accessible to underserved populations.

“The idea behind the Alliance is to use corporate and diplomatic power to push foreign governments to change was and policies- in this case, the obstacles that governments put up to wider Internet penetration.”

There is a lot of excitement right now about emerging technology hubs around the world and the potential for online educational, health, and social companies to create meaningful change. Change, as I learned as a Peace Corps volunteer, is most significant when it comes from within. Internet access may not be a basic human right, but the right to work for fair pay, the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being, and the right to education are. Without shaping policies and infrastructure at a foundational/national level that promote equal access and digital literacy, the ability of the internet to transform the whole world is restricted.

If that doesn’t sell you, just think of the impact a billion new users will have on the growth prospects for U.S. tech companies.

Watch video of the press conference.