Telecommunications Policy | 2021
Idea entrepreneurs: The United Nations Open-Ended Working Group & cybersecurity
Abstract
Abstract The United Nations OEWG (Open Ended Working Group) focused on cybersecurity provides the context for an examination of idea entrepreneurship regarding the role of nonstate actors and the concepts of human rights, gender and sustainable development against the backdrop of a global pandemic and increasing cybersecurity challenges. Crafting a cross-disciplinary conceptual framework based upon a review of relevant literatures, this study uses archival and content analysis to highlight those organizations serving as idea entrepreneurs and those contesting such ideas. Findings include the presence of key divides among idea entrepreneur organizations (including among nation-state organizations themselves) as well as key linkages among a ‘galaxy’ or interconnection of ideas forged with potential to bridge such divides. Additionally, mention of the pandemic emerges as a factor catalyzing idea entrepreneurship with a focus on critical infrastructures.