On 3 November, the First Committee on Disarmament and International Security General Assembly approved 15 texts including a resolution on the Programme of Action for advancing responsible state behaviour in the use of information and communications technologies by States in the context of international security (PoA). The resolution, which was approved by 157 votes in favour, calls for more discussions about the PoA within the Open-Ended Working Group on security of an in the use of information and communications technologies (OEWG) and for a Secretary General report on the subject. The Programme of Action, a proposal initiated by France and Egypt with the support of European Union member states, represents an opportunity to put forward an alternative approach to state behaviour in cyberspace based on multistakeholderism, capacity-building, and democratic norms. That said, it is currently unclear how the multistakeholder community can meaningfully participate in the process going forward and what the next steps are.
Against this background, on Thursday, 8 December at 08:30 ET, the Let’sTalkCyber Initiative hosted a hybrid panel discussion titled: “A conversation about multistakeholder input in the Programme of Action (PoA) to advance responsible State behavior in the use of ICTs in the context of international security.” The panel took stock and raised awareness within the broader multistakeholderism community about the state-of-play of the PoA, and to identify opportunities for non-governmental stakeholders – industry, civil society, and academia, to provide input into the process going forward.
The discussion was moderated by Pavel Mraz, Senior Project Manager, Digital Diplomacy at Microsoft, and will feature Katherine Prizeman, Political Affairs Officer, at the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs and Allyson Pytlak, Disarmament Programme Manager at Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.