The Chair of the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on security in the use information and communications technologies invited interested stakeholders, including businesses, NGOs, and academia to join an informal dialogue on Monday 22 May 2023. For this dialogue, the Chair of the OEWG wanted to hear suggestions for concrete outcomes that should be captured in the second Annual Progress Report at the Fifth Substantive Session in July 2023.
Among the contributions, Global Partners Digital recommended that the Annual Progress Report (APR) recognises the role of all stakeholders in implementing the agreed responsible state behaviour framework. Regarding capacity building, the organization also recommended Member States to consider the report of the African School of Internet Governance 2022, which assessed capacity building needs on the continent. The organisation also requested Member States to reply to unanswered questions regarding the Point of Contact Directory.
The Cyber Peace Institute shared its views, recommending Member States to develop concrete proposals to advance the implementation of cyber norms, and welcomed the proposals put forward by Canada and Switzerland to start discussions on how International Humanitarian Law, the UN Charter, and the obligation of peaceful dispute resolution apply to the use of cyber.
Other stakeholders such as the International Chamber of Commerce sent comments to the Chair, asking to mainstreaming cybersecurity into the broader development agenda, and to develop a shared approach to capacity building. As the main recommendations, the organization recommended to take a whole-of government and whole-of-society approach and to ensure that capacity building is demand-driven and adapted to countries’ needs.
The Paris Peace Forum, Microsoft, the Centre for Multilateral Affairs, the Cyber Tech Accord, or the US Council for International Business, among others, also shared their recommendations. You can find all the statements here
Article adapting from ‘LetsTalkCyber’ Newsletter, posted by Alonso Ferrer, Angel
