View Microsoft Cybersecurity Futures Research:
In Cyberspace 2025: Today's Decisions, Tomorrow's Terrain, Microsoft looks beyond current technological trends to anticipate the future, and presents three possible scenarios for cyberspace in 2025: Plateau, Peak, and Canyon.
OVERVIEW
Cybersecurity is a policy priority for many governments, yet there is limited understanding
of how policy choices made today will impact a country’s cyberspace tomorrow. The
growth in cyberspace predicted in the next decade is driven and shaped by a number
of external factors, many of which can be amplified or influenced by public policy
choices. Societal responses to immigration challenges, educational and workforce
needs, trade liberalization, as well as international cooperation to resolve cyberconflict
will shape the future of cyberspace across both developed and emerging economies.
Successful policies must balance enabling innovation and advancing cybersecurity.
CONTEST DESCRIPTION
In 2014 Microsoft sought original research on the future of cyberspace and its associated
cybersecurity policy challenges from university students at any stage in their educational
development. What will be the main cybersecurity issues at stake, and what decisions
can policymakers make today to ensure a robust cybersecurity landscape in the future?
Preference will be given to responses that integrate quantitative analysis using publicly available cybersecurity data, such as Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR). The ideal submission will
leverage original research to inform policy analysis.
Specifically, research should address one or more of the following questions.
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What will be the priority cybersecurity issues in 2025, and why? |
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Who are the priority stakeholders in securing cyberspace (for example, industry, governments, NGOs, and so on)? What new entrants may there be? How will their roles evolve leading up to 2025? |
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What should be the primary objectives of these stakeholders? Where there are conflicting objectives, such as national versus international policies, how should they be reconciled? |
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What are the priority actions that should be taken by stakeholders to improve cybersecurity
by the year 2025? |
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What impacts will ensuring or failing to ensure cybersecurity have on societies
and economies in the year 2025? |
