Session
This third session of the High-Level Leaders Track, titled Digital Trust and Security, will focus on the Global Digital Compact (GDC) Action Areas: Introduce Accountability Criteria for Discrimination and Misleading Content and Other Areas.
Our digital security is under threat: malicious actors are targeting the critical infrastructures of hospitals, airports, and power grids, with devastating human consequences. Adversarial attacks have evolved in scope, sophistication, targets, and motivation, turning the Internet into a virtual battlefield. Since COVID19, cybercrimes have been on the rise, including phishing, SMS campaigns, malware, dis/misinformation, and ransomware. Vulnerable individuals or groups, especially women, journalists, and ethnic minorities, have been exposed to abuse, surveillance, and discrimination. Democracy around the world has been weakened as digital technologies play a greater part in influencing elections. Meanwhile, technologies like AI and blockchain have proved capable of both damaging and protecting the environment.
International efforts are underway to increase the global response to digital threats, including the Intergovernmental Expert Group (IEG) on Cybercrime, UN Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime, the UN Governmental Expert Group (GGE) on advancing responsible State Behavior in Cyberspace within the context of International Security, and the Open Working Group (OEWG) on cyber security. These work to develop norms, mechanisms and confidence-building measures to boost trust and security in cyberspace. There are other instruments to combat cybercrime, such as the Kyoto Declarations of 2021, the Malabo Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection, the Lomé declaration on cybersecurity and fight against cybercrime and The Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. On the climate side, the ITU has launched standards promoting green data centers and a coalition to produce the Global E-Waste Monitor.
As digitalization is a key driver of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, considering all digital challenges is necessary. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said, "Looking to the future, two seismic shifts will shape the 21st century: the climate crisis and digital transformation." Enabling that transformation includes mitigating digital risks.
This session will explore gaps and barriers affecting digital trust and security in regional and global contexts, translate international normative frameworks into practical implementations and share best practices for enhancing collaboration and coordination among stakeholders to build cyber resilience and align Digital Trust & Security principles with the 2030 Agenda.
Moderator: Mr. Solomon Kassa - Producer and Host, "TechTalk With Solomon", Ethiopian Broadcasting Service
Panellists:
- Mr. Thabo Mashegoane - Chairman, Africa ICT Alliance (AfICTA)
- (Mr.) Dr. Mart Noorma - Director, NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE)
- Mr. Chris Painter - President, Global Forum on Cybersecurity Expertise (GFCE)
- Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin - Secretary-General-elect, ITU
- Mr. Toomas Hendrik Ilves - Former President of Estonia, and Co-chair of the Global Futures Council on Blockchain Technology*
- Mr. Chris Sharrock - Vice President, UN & International Organizations, Microsoft
- Mr. Tawfik Jelassi - Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO
- H.E. Mr. Alkesh Kumar Sharma - Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and Secretary to the Government (India)
- H.E. Ms. Mufarihat Kamil - Minister of Labour and Skills of Ethiopia
- H.E. Ms. Aurélie Adam Soulé Zoumarou - Minister of Digital Economy and Communications, Benin
- Mr. Weixiong Chen - Acting Executive Director, UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (UNCTED)
- Ms. Nathalie Jaarsma - Ambassador at Large for Security Policy and Cyber, Netherlands
- Mr. Chris Sharrock - Vice President, UN & International Organizations, Microsoft*
- Mr. Rémi Maréchaux - Ambassador of France to Ethiopia
- Ms. Bella Cherkesova - Deputy Minister, Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation
* Online