In preparation of the next Round of negotiations on Cybersecurity by the UN Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) (A/RES/73/27) from 10 to 14 February 2020 and by the UN Governmental Group of Experts (UN GGE) (A/RES/73/266), ICT4Peace, in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to the UN in New York and the Office of Disarmament Affairs (ODA) on 6 February 2020 conducted its 2nd Capacity Building Workshop on Cybersecurity Policy and Diplomacy with African Diplomatic Delegations to the UN in New York.
The first workshop of this kind with African Diplomats in New York was held on 27 November 2019.
Ms. Eva Nthoki, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to the UN opened the Workshop, followed by Dr. Gillian Goh and Dr. Daniel Stauffacher. Ms. Eva Nthoki chaired the Workshop.
Dr. Gillian Goh, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA): Update on the UN GGE and UN OEWG Processes and the ODA online Capacity Building Program, presentation of the ODA online Cybersecurity training course.
Dr. Daniel Stauffacher, President ICT4Peace, Introduction to the ICT4Peace Cybersecurity Matrix of national and international goals and measures of Cybersecurity, including regional and global processes.
Ms. Eva Nthoki, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to the UN,
- African perspectives towards the threat to cyberspace: A brief overview of the agreed and ongoing cyber related policy processes and priorities
- The engagement of African States in International Processes
Ms. Nele Achten, Exeter University and Harvard Law School,
- International Law and Cyber Operations
- Voluntary Non-Binding Norms to Enhance International Security in the Context of ICTs
Ms. Véronique Christory, ICRC New York, International Humanitarian Law and cyber operations during armed conflicts and the potential human cost of cyber operations.
During the discussion, Daniel Stauffacher also presented ICT4Peace’s Call to Governments: Critical Infrastructure and Offensive Cyber Operations. and the ICT4Peace initiative on “Trust and Attribution in Cyberspace: An ICT4Peace proposal for an independent network of organisations engaging in attribution peer review”.
He also referred to the ICT4Peace submission to the OEWG negotiations in early September in New York.
A note on the ICT4Peace Cybersecurity and Diplomacy capacity building program can be found here.
On 12 August 2019, ICT4Peace had also been invited by the Organisation of American States (OAS) to conduct its one day workshop on cybersecurity policy and diplomacy called: „Cyber Diplomacy in the UN Process“. The Program of that workshop can be found here.
ICT4Peace has also contributed the EU Regional Consultations on the UN GGE process.
ICT4Peace has written about and contributed to the work of the UN GGE over many years, some posts on our activities can be found here.
In cooperation with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) ICT4Peace published the first Commentary on the norms developed by the previous UN GGE Meetings.
