10. January 2025
ICT4Peace 2024 Year End and Outlook 2025 Report

As we step into 2025, ICT4Peace continues to strengthen its position at the intersection of technology, peace, and human security. 2024 has been transformative, marked by the completion of our flagship project – a comprehensive 500+ page toolkit on ResponsibleTechnology Use by Private Security Companies. This groundbreaking resource establishes new benchmarks for ethical technology practices in the security sector and will serve as thefoundation for extensive capacity-building initiatives in 2025 and beyond.

Additionally, our forward-looking publication “Navigating the Quantum Wave: A Policy Maker’s Guide for theResponsible Governance of Quantum Technologies”, our Digital Distortions” podcast series examining disinformation and truth decay in contemporary democracies, and our collaborationwith the Stimson Center on the case study “Private Actors, State Responsibility – What lessons does the private security industry hold for regulating private sector actors in cyberspace?” within the policy report “Cyber Accountability – Improving cyber accountability and deterring malicious cyber activity” demonstrates our commitment to addressing emerging technological and governance challenges.

Throughout 2024, we expanded our educational reach through specialized masterclasses,deepening our commitment to gender-sensitive cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection. A significant milestone was our contribution to International Geneva’s cybersecurity landscape through the development of a Cyber-Resilience Course incollaboration with the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST). This partnership with FIRST, the premier organization of internet emergency response teamsglobally, ensures our  course  delivers  world-class  expertise  in  incident  response  and cybersecurity.

Another important partnership we continued was with the OrganisationInternationale de la Francophonie (OIF), with an event exploring how “techs civiques” can strengthen human rights and development in the Francophonie world. Our work on understanding and mitigating disinformation’s impact in multilateral contexts has provenincreasingly vital in our complex information environment.

Looking ahead to 2025, several exciting developments are on the horizon.

Policy Initiatives:

We anticipate the release of a major paper on global digital governance in the first quarter,aligning with the conclusion of the 2021-2025 UN Open-Ended Working Group on ICTs andthe WSIS+20 Review process. These milestones present crucial opportunities for advancing international frameworks for responsible state behavior in cyberspace.

Capacity Building:

Our educational programs continue to expand, with a second advanced cyber- resilience coursescheduled for early 2025, further strengthening International Geneva’s capabilities throughpractical training and knowledge sharing.

The implementation of our comprehensive Toolkit on Responsible Technology Use by Private Security Companies will be a major focus, with targeted capacity-building programs designed to translate its principles into practical impact across the private security sector. Through workshops, training sessions, and practical guidance, we will help organizations implement the Toolkit’s frameworks for ethical technology practices.

Emerging Technologies & AI:

Building on our previous extensive work examining AI challenges and governanceframeworks, we are excited to expand our role in 2025 as a key contributor to effective AI governance, particularly in supporting diplomatic efforts through enhanced analysis capabilities while ensuring responsible development centered on humanneeds. We are particularly excited about AI’s potential to enhance diplomatic efforts through improved trend identification and innovative solution development, provided it is anchored in proper governance frameworks and specialized training.

Our position at the heart of International Geneva uniquely places us to guide thesedevelopments and foster a more secure digital future.

As we enter our next chapter, we invite you to join us in building a more secure and equitabledigital future. The challenges ahead are significant, but so too are the opportunities for positive change.

With optimism for the year ahead,

Anne-Marie Buzatu

Executive Director ICT4Peace Foundation Geneva, January 2025

Please find the report in Pdf here.