Responsible Behaviour in Cyberspace: Novel Horizons
From 5-7 November 2018, The Hague Program for Cyber Norms held its inaugural conference at Het Spaansche Hof in The Hague, where they were joined by scholars and participants from across the world, for three days filled with four keynotes and 19 presentations during the parallel sessions.
The conference was opened with a keynote by Myriam Dunn Cavelty, Senior Lecturer for Security Studies and Deputy for Research and Teaching at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) in Zürich, discussed behavioural cyber norms and whether they are an escalation risk or a cause for constraint (link to presentation).
Behavioural cyber norms and private sector involvement
Cyber norms is not only a topic which concerns diplomats and academics, but it also has increasingly become an area where the private sector gets involved. Jaya Baloo, Chief Information Security Officer at KPN, and Nemanja Malisevic, Chief Senior Strategist & International Lead Defending Democracy Program at Microsoft, joined an industry panel moderated by Lousewies van der Laan, former board member of ICANN, to talk about recent and upcoming private sector contributions to the cyber norms debate and, in their view, why tech companies should be involved.
Drinks and dinner concluded the first day. The drinks were opened by Hester Somsen, Director Security Policy at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Chris Painter, former top US cyberdiplomat and currently Commissioner at the Global Commission for the Stability of Cyberspace, gave a short update on the Commission’s recent work on cyber norm development.
Regional perspectives on cyberspace and discussion with Brad Smith at the Peace Palace
The second day started with a keynote by Adam Segal, Ira A. Lipman Chair in Emerging Technologies and National Security and the Director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, who discussed what China wants in cyberspace and how the country is using technology, diplomacy and trade to shape cyberspace. During the day there were several parallel sessions looking at cyber norms from both institutional and regional perspectives and how industry initiatives relate to the norms process. At the end, Dennis Broeders, Senior Fellow of our The Hague Program for Cyber Norms at Leiden University, held a keynote on the demilitarization of cyber conflict.
As a side event, many of the conference participants joined an event at the Peace Palace where Brad Smith, Microsoft’s global President and Chief Legal Counsel, gave a speech on the company’s digital peace initiative. Afterwards, Dennis Broeders provided a critical reflection on the recently launched Paris Call and participated in a joint Q&A with Brad Smith.
The Internet of Things as a global policy frontier and best paper awards
Laura DeNardis, Professor in the School of Communication and Faculty Director of the Internet Governance Lab at American University in Washington DC, opened the last day with her keynote on global policy issues around the Internet of Things and other cyber-physical systems. Another set of parallel sessions on industry’s activities in the norms debate, international law and norms, and power rounded off the last day.
Two best paper awards were awarded at the closing of the conference. Louise Marie Hurel (LSE Media and Communications / Igarapé Institute) and Luisa Cruz Lobato (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro / Igarapé Institute) were awarded for their paper “Cyber-norms Entrepreneurship? Understanding Microsoft’s Advocacy on Cybersecurity”. James Shires (Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs / Harvard Kennedy School) was awarded for his paper “Ambiguity and Appropriation: Cybersecurity and Cybercrime in Egypt and the Gulf States”.
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