The soldiers of future conflicts will not be wearing camouflage fatigues and carrying conventional weapons. They will be sitting in simulators or at computer terminals wearing normal office attire. Their primary objectives will be to defend against attacks from terrorists or even nations intent on overtaking their data systems or disrupting financial and communication systems. World leaders just concluded a summit meeting in Berlin where diplomacy in the technological era was top of the agenda. National interdependence on digital information and the speed at which this can be shared between governments has finally moved leaders to work toward setting standards on data encryption, data privacy and data security.
Information is power and no one wants to be left behind.
Expo 2000, which opened in Hanover, Germany this week, has countries from all over the world attempting to put their best techno-foot forward. Even The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, known as 'Green Heart of Europe', invites visitors to their Technology Terrace - a demonstration of vast amounts of information at a citizen's fingertips. The citizen being a citizen of the world. As digital data rise to a point of primary importance, concerns over data integrity and security raise vital questions. US President Bill Clinton warned of technological terrorism in his address to this year's graduating class of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.