Simple Steps Space Companies Can Take to Increase Transparency and Trust

The emergence of in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing, or ISAM, capabilities, particularly from Western-based commercial actors, is adding to geopolitical tension among rivals in orbit, much of it rooted in the strong and multi-layered relationships between governments and the commercial space sector. At present, there is little guidance on how to ease the tension around these activities, leaving open the potential for ISAM missions to create misunderstandings and, potentially, escalation.

In this policy brief, Daniel Porras looks at why ISAM activities are creating geopolitical mistrust, the current legal framework around ISAM, and suggests simple, low-cost transparency measures that private actors can adopt to ease global worries about these activities and create a more sustainable space environment.

On November 26, 2024, CIGI hosted the Waterloo Technology Foresight Event, a closed-door session that brought together local executives and thinkers from Waterloo Region’s dynamic technology sector. At the heart of the discussions was Canada’s role in an increasingly complex and competitive global landscape, with participants considering the forces shaping the future of innovation and economic growth.

The event served as an important platform for dialogue, offering insights into how global trends intersect with local business realities and exploring the opportunities and challenges emerging technologies present. In this conference report, Kailee Hilt summarizes and highlights key points from the conversations.

In this opinion, which first appeared in a medley published by The Hub, Raquel Garbers argues that “we are living in the most historically significant moment since the fall of the Soviet Union. The shift in global power away from the United States has reached the point where the payoff that comes from ‘running the world’ is not worth the cost. In upending how it engages with the world, the United States declared, ‘We’re out.’”

As for Canadians, “we can make ourselves a strategic powerhouse in the post-America world, or we can let ourselves grow weaker and poor. Canadians deserve a say in that choice.”

Join Policy Prompt hosts Vass Bednar and Paul Samson for their fascinating conversation with Michael Richardson, associate professor of media and culture at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, about the ideas in his book Nonhuman Witnessing: War, Data, and Ecology after the End of the World (Duke University Press, 2024).

Richardson considers the ethical and political implications of witnessing in an age of profound instability, and how our ways of making knowledge and experiencing the world are being mediated in fundamental ways by nonhuman systems — from the embodiment of history, trauma and change in animals and natural landscapes, to the “immediately computational” witnessing by technologies such as surveillance cameras and artificial intelligence.

“US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on goods imported from Canada will be severely destabilizing. But this trade war will also have profound long-term effects on Canada’s knowledge economy. Data governance, digital trade, intellectual property (IP) and other innovation policy measures will surely be emphasized by the cadre of big tech leaders now clinging around Trump.”

Jeremy de Beer says that Canada needs a coherent international IP and digital trade strategy, and that our best opportunities lie in a perhaps unexpected place: the African continent.

“While liberal democracy emphasizes individual rights, adversarial politics and universalist principles, India’s philosophical and political heritage is steeped in a more holistic and context-sensitive ethos. Rooted in the ancient concept of dharma, this framework emphasizes balance, collective well-being and ethical governance that adapts to the nuances of time and circumstance.”

S. Yash Kalash explores the concept of dharmic democracy, “not as a critique or alternative model to the Western liberal order, but rather as a lens through which to understand India’s unique identity and also contribute to broader global democratic discourse.”

The Digital Policy Hub is seeking applications for the 2025–2026 academic year cohort.

In partnership with universities, governments and the private sector, the Hub at CIGI offers a collaborative space for emerging scholars and innovative thinkers from the social, natural and applied sciences to share and develop research on the evolution and governance of transformative technologies. Deadline to apply is March 3, 2025, 11:59 p.m. EST.

Interested? Register for the February 13 online information session. Find out more here.

Here are the most recent working papers published by Hub fellows.

Kristen Csenkey: “Governing the Risks of Quantum-Enhanced Transportation Systems”

Shirley Anne Scharf: “Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Policy: A Comparative Perspective”

Follow the links on the Hub webpage to learn more about the Hub scholars and their work.

Mar. 4 – 6:30 p.m. EST (UTC–05:00) – Waterloo, Canada: The Balsillie School of International Affairs and CIGI are pleased to partner to bring Werner Herzog’s documentary Theater of Thought to the CIGI Auditorium.

In this film, Herzog explores the human brain, seeking to understand how it produces complex thoughts and emotions, while also considering the philosophical, ethical and social implications. The film “illuminates the technological advances that are helping people overcome brain-related illnesses, confronting conspiracy theories over implanted chips, and questioning the politics of mind control.”

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with experts who will discuss the implications of emerging neurotechnologies.

The event is free and open to the public. Find out more and reserve your ticket here.