Norine MacDonald

Last updated
Norine A. MacDonald KC
Alma mater University of British Columbia (BA, LLB), INSEAD (Advanced Management Program), MIT Sloan School of Management (Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy)
Occupation(s)Lawyer, researcher, policy advocate, philanthropist
Known forPresident and Founder of RAIN Defense AI, Founder of The International Council on Security and Development
Notable work
  • Killing Me Softly: Competition in Artificial Intelligence and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (2020),
  • Global Philanthropy,
  • Philanthropy in Europe: A Rich Past, A Promising Future
Awards
  • First Class Medal of Merit (Italian Red Cross, 2007),
  • U.S. Department of the Army Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service (2018),
  • Distinguished Public Service Medal (2018)
Website RAIN Defense AI

Norine A. MacDonald KC [1] is the President and Founder of RAINCLOUD, a global business and knowledge hub for the Defense + AI ecosystem. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Ms MacDonald is former Visiting Distinguished Fellow at National Defense University. In 2020, MacDonald authored 'Killing Me Softly: Competition in Artificial Intelligence and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles' with George Howell. [4]

She graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management in Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy in September 2020.

Career

Founding and Leadership Roles

She was formerly president and founder of The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), an international security and development think tank founded in 2002 with offices in Kabul, London, Rio de Janeiro, Brussels and Paris, and field offices in the Afghan cities of Lashkar Gah and Kandahar City. [5]

With ICOS, MacDonald promoted innovation in the security and development sectors. She started what became a global organization aimed at driving change by building strategic coalitions, bringing together influential stakeholders and investors around innovative solutions and pilot projects to test them. [6] [7]

Media and publications

MacDonald has appeared on CNN several times to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. In July 2008, she made a further appearance on CNN to talk about ICOS's report Iraq: 'Angry Hearts and Angry Minds'. [8] She also co-edited two books: Global Philanthropy and Philanthropy in Europe: A Rich Past, A Promising Future. [9]

Research in Afghanistan

Since 2005, MacDonald has led an extensive programme in Afghanistan focusing on global security development. Through field research, ICOS investigated the relationship between counter-narcotics, military, and development policies and their consequences on Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts. The Council's reports and video footage provide insight into the deteriorating development and security situations on the ground, especially in southern Afghanistan, and make policy recommendations to a broad audience of senior policy-makers and experts in NATO countries. [10]

Philanthropy and advisory roles

As President of The Gabriel Foundation, MacDonald was a member of the Network of European Foundations for Innovative Cooperation(NEF). [11] This is a platform which brings together twelve of the leading philanthropic organisations in Europe.

MacDonald was also a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Crisis Group(ICG).

Honors and awards

In February 2007, she was awarded the First Class Medal of Merit of the Italian Red Cross for outstanding contributions to international humanitarian cooperation. [12]

In 2018, MacDonald was awarded the U.S. Department of the Army Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service and also in 2018, she received the Distinguished Public Service Medal for exceptional service to the United States Army.

Other activities and recognition

MacDonald has international experience in law, academic research, policy, advocacy and philanthropy. She has testified before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development and Standing Committee on National Defence in Canada, and the House of Commons' Defence Committee in the United Kingdom. In October 2009, she testified before the US Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control during a hearing on 'U.S. Counternarcotics Strategy in Afghanistan'. [13]

MacDonald's work has been featured in a long list of publications including the Sunday Times , The Globe and Mail , The New York Times , The Washington Post and the Daily Telegraph , while she has also appeared on CNN, BBC, CBC, CTV and Al Jazeera International. [14] She reports in her biography that she is a member of the Frontline Club. [15]

Before founding ICOS, MacDonald was a partner in the law firm Bull, Housser and Tupper, specialising in commercial litigation, charities and tax law. Moreover, MacDonald held several prominent offices as a Bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia.

MacDonald holds a BA and an LLB from the University of British Columbia, and completed the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD in France in 2005. She was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1997. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula Dobriansky</span> American diplomat (born 1955)

Paula Jon Dobriansky is an American diplomat, public official, and foreign policy expert who served as Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs (2001–2009) and the President's Envoy to Northern Ireland (2007–2009). A specialist in Central/East European affairs and the former Soviet Union, trans-Atlantic relations, and political-military affairs, Dobriansky held key senior roles in the administrations of five U.S. presidents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michèle Flournoy</span> American defense policy advisor

Michèle Angélique Flournoy is an American defense policy advisor who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy under President Bill Clinton and under secretary of defense for policy under President Barack Obama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathaniel Fick</span> American diplomat, executive, author, and military officer (born 1977)

Nathaniel C. Fick is an American diplomat, technology executive, author, and former United States Marine Corps officer. He was the CEO of cybersecurity software company Endgame, Inc., then worked for Elastic NV after it acquired Endgame. He was an Operating Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. In 2022, he was selected to lead the U.S. State Department's Bureau for Cyberspace and Digital Policy.

Opium licensing is a policy instrument used to counter illegal drug cultivation and production. It has been used in countries such as Turkey and India to curb illegal opium production. The main mechanism used under opium licensing is a shift from cultivation and/or production for the illegal market towards legal uses such as the production of essential medicines such as morphine and codeine.

Jorrit Kamminga is Director of RAIN+ Ethics, a division of the RAIN Research Group, an international research firm working on the nexus between AI and Defense.

The Rome Consensus for a Humanitarian Drug Policy is a framework for dialogue and cooperation that commits 114 National Societies of Red Cross and Red Crescent from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe to promote and implement humanitarian approaches to drug policy. The Rome Consensus aims at raising the profile of drug policy to the forefront of social concerns, hinging formulation and implementation of drug control on public health concerns.

The Centre of Excellence on Public Security (CEPS) is a think tank based in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil which studies aspects of public security, advocating multi-dimensional responses to Public Security issues. The CEPS works to bring together policy makers, operational law enforcement officers and independent experts, for dialogues towards generating innovative solutions to complex Public Security issues. The CEPS is overseen by a Scientific Advisory Board, whose chairman is Raymond Kendall, Honorary Secretary General of Interpol.

The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) is an international think tank that focuses on Afghanistan and other conflict zones all over the world such as Iraq, Syria and Somalia. ICOS is a project of the Network of European Foundations' The Mercator Fund. The organization was originally named the Senlis Council in 2002 but later in 2013 renamed as the International Council on Security and Development to reflect the interest and activities of the organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Beth Long</span> American diplomat, and entrepreneur (born 1963)

Mary Beth Long is an American foreign policy expert, entrepreneur, and former U.S. Government official. From 2007 to 2009, Long served as the first woman confirmed by the U.S. Senate as an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and as such, was the first female civilian four-star military equivalent in the history of the Pentagon. She led the International Security Affairs (ISA) office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense responsible for policy for the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. She was also the first woman ever to be appointed as Chair of NATO's High Level Group (HLG), the highest-level responsible for NATO's nuclear policy and reporting directly to the Secretary General of NATO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lethal autonomous weapon</span> Autonomous military technology system

Lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs) are a type of autonomous military system that can independently search for and engage targets based on programmed constraints and descriptions. LAWs are also known as lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS), autonomous weapon systems (AWS), robotic weapons or killer robots. LAWs may operate in the air, on land, on water, underwater, or in space. The autonomy of systems as of 2018 was restricted in the sense that a human gives the final command to attack—though there are exceptions with certain "defensive" systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall</span> American government official (born 1959)

Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall is an American national security and energy leader, public servant, educator, and author currently serving as the 11th United States Homeland Security Advisor to President Joe Biden since 2021. She previously served in both the Clinton and Obama Administrations and held appointments at academic institutions and think tanks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laetitia Garriott de Cayeux</span> American entrepreneur and executive (born 1978)

Laetitia Garriott de Cayeux is an American entrepreneur and business executive. She is the founder and managing partner of Global Space Ventures, a venture capital firm, serves on the United States Department of Defense Defense Science Board, and was the president and chief operating officer of Escape Dynamics.

A military artificial intelligence arms race is an arms race between two or more states to develop and deploy lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). Since the mid-2010s, many analysts have noted the emergence of such an arms race between superpowers for better military AI, driven by increasing geopolitical and military tensions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Kratsios</span> American government official (born 1986)

Michael John Kotsakas Kratsios is an American business executive and government official. He served as the fourth Chief Technology Officer of the United States at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In this role, Kratsios served as President Donald Trump's top technology advisor. From July 10, 2020 to January 20, 2021, Kratsios was also the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

The artificial intelligenceindustry in China is a rapidly developing multi-billion dollar industry. The roots of China's AI development started in the late 1970s following Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms emphasizing science and technology as the country's primary productive force.

Regulation of algorithms, or algorithmic regulation, is the creation of laws, rules and public sector policies for promotion and regulation of algorithms, particularly in artificial intelligence and machine learning. For the subset of AI algorithms, the term regulation of artificial intelligence is used. The regulatory and policy landscape for artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging issue in jurisdictions globally, including in the European Union. Regulation of AI is considered necessary to both encourage AI and manage associated risks, but challenging. Another emerging topic is the regulation of blockchain algorithms and is mentioned along with regulation of AI algorithms. Many countries have enacted regulations of high frequency trades, which is shifting due to technological progress into the realm of AI algorithms.

Regulation of artificial intelligence is the development of public sector policies and laws for promoting and regulating artificial intelligence (AI). It is part of the broader regulation of algorithms. The regulatory and policy landscape for AI is an emerging issue in jurisdictions worldwide, including for international organizations without direct enforcement power like the IEEE or the OECD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021</span> United States federal law

The William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 is a United States federal law which specifies the budget, expenditures and policies of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for fiscal year 2021. Analogous NDAAs have been passed annually for 59 years. The act is named in honor of Representative Mac Thornberry, who served as either the chair or the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. Thornberry retired from Congress at the end of the congressional session.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anja Kaspersen</span> Norwegian diplomat and academic

Anja Kaspersen is a director for Global Markets Development, New Frontiers and Emerging Spaces at IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organisation. Kaspersen is also a senior fellow at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs where she co-directs the Artificial Intelligence Equality Initiative with Wendell Wallach. With scholars and thinkers in the field of technology governance, supported by Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and IEEE, Kaspersen and Wallach provided a Proposal for International governance of AI.

Helen Toner is an Australian researcher, and the director of strategy at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. She was a board member of OpenAI when CEO Sam Altman was fired.

References

  1. 1 2 "Queen's Counsel Lawyers --Jan.15/96". archive.news.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  2. ↑ "RAINCLOUD Team". RAINCLOUD. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  3. ↑ EIN Presswire (12 June 2023). "Rain Defense+ AI launches RAINCLOUD, a global business hub for the DEFENSE+ AI ECOSYSTEM". KARK. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  4. ↑ MacDonald, Norine; Howell, George (2020). "Killing Me Softly : Competition in Artificial Intelligence and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" (PDF). PRISM. 8 (3). NDU Press: 103. ISSN   2157-0663 . Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  5. ↑ "Norine MacDonald". Project Syndicate. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  6. ↑ "Norine Bio". ICOS. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  7. ↑ "RAIN Defense + AI: Creating synergies between AI and defense sectors". Technology Innovators. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  8. ↑ "Iraq - angry hearts and angry minds - International Council on Security and Development". Archived from the original on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  9. ↑ "Philanthropy in Europe: A Rich Past, a Promising Future". Amazon. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  10. ↑ Spencer, Metta (1 August 2008). "Poppies for Medicine: An interview with The Senlis Council's Norine MacDonald". Peace Magazine. Canadian Disarmament Information Service, Peace Info Service. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  11. ↑ "Ms. Norine MacDonald, Q.C. Lecture". PSG.COM. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  12. ↑ "Norine MacDonald Bio". ICOS Group. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  13. ↑ Her testimony is available here
  14. ↑ "ICOS Media Centre - International Council on Security and Development". Archived from the original on 27 November 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  15. ↑ Norine MacDonald. "norine_bio.pdf" (PDF). ICOS. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.