The Geneva Security Forum is a unique annual two-day international security conference, showcase and training centre in Geneva, Switzerland. Held in June each year, the gathering is a top-level forum that will target key stakeholders in the highly competitive and rapidly changing global security market: policymakers, business leaders, key practitioners, and thought leaders who will work together to anticipate and address the issues on the global security agenda. The Geneva Security Forum will also be an occasion to raise awareness, showcase products and services and conduct training seminars. The Geneva Security Forum is the first global conference designed to facilitate communication between security professionals to anticipate the changing global security environment, promote commercial solutions and discuss policy trade offs.
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Security in its broadest sense has become one of the most central issues facing the world today, from terrorism to protection of infrastructure to personal security issues and information security. The age of globalization has witnessed not only increasing interdependence and mobility of capital, goods and people but also the growing interconnectedness of global challenges and their diverse effects on citizens everywhere. This interdependence, highlighted by technological advances resulting in a web of interrelated networks, has increased vulnerability to security threats. The exchange of information and knowledge across borders has become critical in the development of cooperative and effective international responses to these challenges. Building on the tradition of Switzerland, and Geneva, of bringing multi-stakeholder groups together on neutral ground, the Geneva Security Forum will focus on new threats, future security challenges and the integral role of IT, with the goal of finding interoperable solutions that reach across cultural, religious, economic and geographical divides. The interconnectedness of today’s security threats requires a coordinated response involving the key players from relevant sectors of business, government, intergovernmental organizations, academia and civil society. Bridges need to be built and compromises found if we are to build a safer world for our children. The Geneva Security Forum is optimally placed to perform this critical and urgent global service.
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The Story of the GENEVA SECURITY FORUM (looking back) ACTIVITIES 2007-2012 20-21 June, 2007, Geneva Security Forum The successful launch of the Geneva Security Forum took place on 20-21 June 2007. The Forum called for increased education to make the world more secure including education for both the growing number of marginalized youth in developing countries and for IT users to protect themselves against new cyber threats such as banking Trojans and highly sophisticated hackers. The Forum also called for increased cooperation between the public, private and non-governmental sectors to respond effectively to new threats and highlighted the critical need for information sharing between countries even in highly sensitive sectors, without which cyber-criminals and terrorists will never be brought to justice. Stakeholders recommended that the global community needs to find ways to address the legal problem of how, in the case of terrorism, we can intervene at the stage of “intention” rather than at the stage of “action”. The Geneva Security Forum is committed to furthering the debate about the move to new technologies, e-government, privacy issues and their relation to personal security. 22-23 May 2008, International Telecommunication Union, Cyber-Security Meeting, Geneva The Geneva Security Forum worked closely with the ITU to develop the program and identify speakers for the Cyber-Security Meeting following up on Action Line C5 of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). 5-9 October, World Telecom 2009, Geneva Following on the successful inaugural Geneva Security Forum meeting on 20-21 June 2007, the GSF focused its efforts on cyber-security and is working closely with the ITU in the preparation of the Cyber-security and Emergency Response track for World Telecom 2009 (October 5-9, Geneva). The GSF is both a partner of World Telecom 2009 and a member of the Forum Advisory Committee. This close relationship and high-level positioning with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), supported by the Government of Geneva, has provided an opportunity for the GSF to help structure the development of the Forum’s Cyber-security and Emergency Response track which will consist of at least one plenary session, interactive discussions, roundtables and thought leadership pieces over the duration of Telecom. Geneva Security Forum representatives, including Maria Cattaui, President, GSF Strategic Advisory Board, and Daniel Stauffacher, President, GSF, will be involved in the program as will other speakers recommended by the GSF. 2012, Geneva Security Forum The Geneva Security Forum will hold a high-level strategic event focusing on protecting critical infrastructure against cyber-attacks in 2012. Date to be determined, Interconnected Security threats, Geneva Security Forum The Geneva Security Forum will hold another event, focusing on clean tech, energy security, IT and security issues including health, identity, cyber-security and the security of cities. It is critical that we assess the interconnectedness of security threats and ensure that our IT infrastructure is prepared for the challenges of the future. We are increasingly vulnerable through high global interdependence and our reliance on technology to facilitate virtually all aspects of our commercial, private and personal existence. How can technology help to mitigate disasters and be used as an effective tool to forecast threats and identify new risks? How can IT help to relieve the human reluctance to share information of a sensitive nature during global crises? What are the private sector solutions? How can pubic-private partnerships be encouraged and optimized? Clean Tech & Security The GSF will highlight the pressing need to reduce dependence on oil and develop clean tech alternatives in virtually all industry sectors. What will be the hidden benefits of this move? Will our dependence on oil really be reduced? Will clean tech serve to mitigate military involvement in conflict zones? How safe are these new technologies? What is the 10 year outlook? What new technologies are on the horizon? Who are the industry leaders? Where are the hidden risk factors? Health, Security & IT The GSF will also look at Health, security and IT issues from the coordination of the global response to pandemics, the digitization of medical records and the safety of the use of online medical services. The Security of Cities & IT implications The GSF will include a module focusing on the Information Communication Technology (ICT) requirements of cities including the protection of critical infrastructure, emergency response, transport hubs and e-voting. Security has become one of the most central issues facing the world today, from protection of infrastructure to personal security issues to terrorism, global health concerns and transport security to name a few. Cities are at the centre of these trends with dense populations and concentrated assets, highly dependent on critical infrastructure, power grids and fully functioning public services such as police, fire, transport, water, engineers, and health professionals. Cities, and mega-cities, are growing in importance, and will be the stage upon which most of these new challenges, threats and responses are played out. (It is projected that in the next fifty years, two-thirds of humanity will be living in towns and cities- www.unhabitat.org) The role of ICT in city management, inter- and intra-city communication and security will be a key theme running through all the discussions. Cyber-security, digital identity, authentication |