A new report from Willis Towers Watson warns that the move towards economic nationalism, provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic and the European Union's technology regulation, is causing "increasing concern" to the technology sector and may result in lasting impacts on supply chains and IP. The report sourced country and sector analysts from Oxford Analytica in drawing its conclusions and outlines some of the key factors that are creating growth in technology companies seeking political risk insurance. Based on this data and interviews conducted by Willis Towers Watson researchers with a panel of external affairs and risk management professionals at the world's, the report outlines the top geopolitical threats facing technology companies in 2021. Commenting on the top risks, Laura Burns, U.S. political risk product leader, financial solutions, Willis Towers Watson, said, "If 'data is the new oil,' as the saying goes, might Big Tech be the new Big Oil?" "Today, it appears that competition for dominance in high technology may become central to geostrategic competition, just as oil did from the 1850s to present," Burns said in the whitepaper. "And as these Big Tech companies operate, increasingly they may collide with the geopolitical objectives of host countries and home countries. The technology sector will continue to develop and adapt, but its ability to work in a volatile business environment is critical." Discover what threats are top-of-mind for the tech sector in the slideshow above. Related: |

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