Why Frontier Technology Is a Must in a Globalized World

Frontier technology is innovative and new technology that breaks ground on new directions in what individuals and organizations are able to achieve. The background of frontier technology consists of advancements in development going back all the way to the Industrial Revolution up through today with advancements in satellite coverage, travel, communications, and surveillance.

Key players and stakeholders in creating and using this technology consist of developers, such as Frontier Technology, Inc., users, such as organizations like the FBI, persons involved in the transaction (those who may be on the receiving end of the technology, those who are being monitored, tracked, communicated with, etc.), and those who invest in these developments, such as venture capitalists, lobbies, military, congressional committees and government agencies.

The solutions that they strive to provide are ones that will, essentially, make the world safer, better, and more functional thanks to the technological advancements and discoveries of those working at the fore of frontier technology. Are these solutions always practical? To answer that question one must first define what practical means. The 21st century is the dawn of the Digital Age, which has changed the way the world works. Globalization is a given: information flows from one corner of the Earth to another in seconds.

News is old after an hour. Data can be contained and stored in a "cloud" and accessed from any point anywhere at any time. Data can also be hacked, which presents dangers for everyone -- people who have money in banks, people who have secrets in emails, and people who have codes to secure information that third parties should not see. Thus frontier technology is something that should not be thought of in terms of practicality -- but rather as something that is essential and necessary.

Technology has changed the way the world works and that frontier is expanding all the time. As soon as new technology is created, better technology is being developed that will outdate it in no time. The frontier has to be constantly guarded and constantly watched because it is shifting all the time both here and abroad.

It is a fluid frontier, the frontier of technology and it means that what is happening on one side of the world in terms of developments will have a major impact on what is happening on another side of the world. Take Russia's development of its new missile shield defense system that it has shipped to Syria. This alone has tipped the balance of the war against ISIS in the favor of Russia, Syria and Iran (Durden, 2015; Escobar, 2015).

What this means is that Russia has been developing frontier technology that others have not and now it is a frontier that they control. For agencies like the FBI, this is an important point that has to constantly be reiterated to those in charge of funding development: if the West is not at the fore of frontier technology -- that is, if we are not controlling and heading the front -- then someone else will be. And whoever that is will be the entity that calls the shots.