Henry Sanderson

Austria is pushing for a European charter on digital sovereignty, aiming to reduce reliance on non-European tech and strengthen Europe’s capacity to act autonomously in the digital space. A background paper, seen by MLex, sets out proposals including stronger cooperation, promotion of open-source solutions, and new governance structures to boost data sovereignty, digital skills, and technological independence. EU digital ministers will meet in Vienna on Sept. 12 to discuss the plan, with the view of adopting a charter by December that could shape future Commission initiatives such as the Cloud and AI Development Act.

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It was a privilege to co-host a significant discussion at DSEI UK 2025 with Jan Friedrich Kallmorgen, and our guest speaker, Mircea Geoana, Former Deputy Secretary General of NATO, aimed at unlocking financial routes to enhance defense outputs. This session brought together industry experts to explore collaborative strategies for enhancing defense capabilities. Key points from our discussion included: - The significant investment opportunities in defense, given the urgency across Europe to expand both capability and capacity - The need for innovative financing models and the role of public-private partnerships in driving growth. - The role that Government's can play through reforming procurement processes to provide greater flexibility and certainty, particularly to new entrants and SMEs Thank you to all participants for their valuable perspectives. Together, we are paving the way for a more resilient and innovative defense industry.   Find out more about the event here: https://www.dsei.co.uk/   #EYatDSEI #DSEI2025 #DefenseInnovation Idris Memon Guy Turner Jaison Cresswell Philip Milne Gareth Rees Jonathan Rundle Matthew Vernon

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America Blacklists Four Tankers! News Tanks The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has struck a major blow against the Houthis’ fundraising and weapons procurement network. As part of the action, sanctions have been imposed on 32 individuals and companies, as well as four vessels. OFAC has targeted Dubai-based Taiba Ship Management. The company’s owner, Muhammad al-Sunaidar, had already been sanctioned by the Treasury Department on July 22. Four tankers operated by Taiba have now also been blacklisted: Star MM (flag of Barbados) Nobel M (flag of Antigua and Barbuda) Shreya (flag of Antigua and Barbuda) Black Rock (flag of Panama) BEAUFORT MARINE SERVICES

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TINA tariff simulator has recently been employed extensively to explore the implications of the rapidly evolving global tariff landscape (https://lnkd.in/gEcDSxnT). A number of users have inquired about how trade diversion and trade creation are calculated. While the full technical explanation can be found in the Technical User Guide (https://lnkd.in/gaVgmsjM) and training video (https://lnkd.in/ggCJ2wcg), I wanted to offer a simplified “CliffsNotes” version here for quick reference. Additionally, I’ve prepared an Excel sheet with a built-in formula to help calculate trade diversion, which is available here: https://lnkd.in/gnBz8Quv (you need to download and open it in MS Excel to play around with values).

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No surprise here. According to the FT, Beijing apparently is asking for the relaxation of export controls on HBM chips used to make advanced AI chips as part of the bilateral trade talks underway. Having opened the door by putting export controls on the negotiating table in recent months, the US will be hard pressed to convince the Chinese that such requests are off limits. Furthermore, sensing that the President would like to visit China and meet with Xi, the Chinese may feel additional leverage beyond their newfound bargaining edge — minerals and magnets

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The military will set up three new joint military stations on the mainland, create a common education corps and implement key transformations across the Army, Navy and Air Force. A key decision is the creation of three joint military stations, where all three Services will share a common establishment. Until now, the only tri-services command with such facilities has been in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The new stations are expected to be located on the mainland. Another landmark reform is the merger of the education branches of the three Services into a single “Tri-Services Education Corps”. This will mean a unified cadre for training institutions, including the National Defence Academy, Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy and the IAF Academy. A post from the CDS office on X said the conference had “identified and finalised the most important transformations required that will drive impactful changes in the future”. The Tribune link 👇 https://lnkd.in/guf8vx83

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Another insightful report from BryceTech, focusing on global space activity for Q2 2025: •U.S. providers conducted 54 orbital launches in Q2; •Chinese providers conducted 19 launches; •A total of 1,198 spacecraft were launched globally; •Satellites under 1,200 kg accounted for 98% of spacecraft launched and 87% of total upmass; •An estimated 743,770 kg of spacecraft mass was launched in Q2; •Most spacecraft launched in Q2 were operated by commercial companies; and •The majority of spacecraft were communications satellites, largely driven by continued Starlink deployments. Download the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gF-xqdqr

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Global basic science leadership is now a national security priority for China, and the U.S. is at risk of ceding its lead. Xi Jinping has made this explicit: “Basic research is the source of scientific and technological innovation. We must win the battle in core technologies.” My analysis suggests China is now projected to spend $42 billion on basic research in 2026 (based on 10% annual growth), approaching 2024 U.S. levels. But with proposed 34% U.S. funding cuts based on AAAS analysis, America will fall behind China for the first time since WWII and the Cold War, a shocking reversal after nearly eight decades of global leadership. This is a stunning and unexplainable collapse of U.S. scientific primacy, the very foundation of our economic strength and national security. Yes, we must ensure efficiency in every taxpayer dollar. But unilateral disarmament in science will put China in the global pole position—defining the next generation of materials, aerospace, fusion energy, genomics, AI, and technologies that set global standards from Beijing, not Washington. 📊 Chart below. 🔗 Sources: https://lnkd.in/gtbsNXtr https://lnkd.in/gJvNN2_j #ScienceLeadership #NationalSecurity #USChinaCompetition #BasicResearch #InnovationCrisis #FutureOfInnovation

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Words matter. MP Materials’ adoption of Beijing’s "dual-use" framing is inartful at best, and undermines global resource security at worst. During its recent DoD partnership announcement, MP highlighted its support of "dual-use" applications, echoing language used by Beijing. Beijing increasingly labels some critical materials, including rare earths, as "dual-use," justifying export restrictions based on military uses. Historically, "dual-use" primarily referred to technologies US wanted to restrict related to WMDs, later broadening but remaining technology-focused. Beijing is now drastically expanding this concept to cover materials with military use, as of there is an internationally accepted concept of dual use. Since nearly every material can be fastened into a weapon (think: plastics in drones or iron in tanks), Beijing positions itself to restrict not only nearly every material, but the know-how and equipment needed to process them. When MP echoes Beijing’s narrative, it implicitly endorses China’s justification for restricting exports -- as if any nation is justified in blocking any atom in a supply chain simply because it might end up in a weapon. It may make MP more indispensable, but it threatens the broader War over the Periodic Table. #criticalminerals #REEs #rareearths #resourcesecurity #dualuse

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