ICT4Peace is honoured to have been invited to co-launch with Leiden University’s Program for Cyber Norms, the global open consultation on how to implement the United Nations’ Group of Governmental Experts’ Recommendations on Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace.
Please find our Call for commentary and implementation guidelines on norms proposed in UN GGE 2015 report here.
Background
For two decades, negotiations of a possible cyber security framework have been discussed behind closed doors under the auspices of the UN Disarmament and International Security Committee. Five consecutive Groups of Governmental Experts (UN GGE) on ‘Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security’ have worked to settle standards of responsible State behaviour in cyberspace, amidst strategic contestation in and around the cyber domain.
In their 2015 report (U.N. Doc. A/70/174, July 22, 2015) the GGE proposed 11 voluntary non-binding norms on responsible State behaviour, related to cooperation, mutual assistance, information exchange, respect for Human Rights, integrity of the supply chain, and critical infrastructure protection (para 13). The UN General Assembly subsequently called upon Member States to “be guided in their use of information and communications technologies by the 2015 report of the Group of Governmental Experts”, by adopting resolution A/RES/70/237 in December 2015.
In June of this year, the fifth consecutive UN GGE concluded its negotiations without producing a consensus report. We seek to enhance and support the work of the UN GGE by conducting additional academic and expert consultations on norms and ways of their implementation. We would like to include in this work many views and perspectives and are therefore opening this project for open consultation and contribution.
Open Consultation
Our consultations will be conducted throughout the summer with the view to publish a thorough and balanced commentary in the early fall of this year.
We invite and look to include in this consultation and commentary process a broad constituency of interest, from academia, civil society, the corporate world, as well as public administration. We are welcoming recommendations, comments, and guidance as to how to best implement the proposed norms. We also are keen to receive commentary on whether the proposed norms themselves can be considered clear, understandable, relevant and justified. Additionally, we are looking forward to hearing if there are any additional norms for international cyber security to recommend, and ask your advice on what reference materials (national and international documents; academic and expert literature) should be considered when implementing the proposed norms.
In creating our commentary, editorial working groups are formed on each of the 11 voluntary non-binding norms proposed in the UN GGE 2015 report. In addition to comments and contributions, we welcome participation in one or several of these editorial working groups creating the final implementation guidelines and commentary. An overview of the norms and their respective working groups can be found here.
This consultation process is lead by Dr. Eneken Tikk.
This process resulted in the UN ODA Publication with a Foreword by Daniel Stauffacher and Eneken Tikk: “Voluntary, Non-Binding Norms for Responsible State Behaviour in the Use of Information and Communications Technology – A Commentary”