To delve deeper into the concepts covered in REMIT’s first conference, to provide a comprehensive overview of each session’s topics, and to offer participants a glimpse of what awaits them (or why you should register if you haven’t already – registration closing May 10!), we’ll be rolling out a Session Series in the weeks leading up to the event.
| May 16, 14.00-15.30 | Session 4 The Interconnections Between Cybersecurity and Critical Technologies Moderator: Dr. James Shires, ECCRI, United Kingdom Speakers: Alžběta Bajerová, NATO, Belgium Jakob Bund, European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI), Germany Nikolas Ott, Microsoft, Belgium Dr. Alexandra Paulus, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Germany |
Parallel session 4 is ran by REMIT partner European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI).
The speed and reach of AI, quantum computing, cloud technology, 5G, and low-latency sensor networks of the Internet of Things are pushing back the boundaries of human activity in areas as vast as agriculture, climate change mitigation, and DNA analysis.
This potential of critical and emerging technologies (CETs) is underwritten by the cybersecurity of the building blocks that make up this new ecosystem. However, dependencies exist in both directions. Cybersecurity practices are undergoing transformation as advances in quantum computing challenge existing methods of encryption, cloud services offer opportunities to scale up protection but also an expanded attack surface, while AI applications support both defenders and attackers in the discovery of vulnerabilities.
These evolutions take place amid geopolitical tensions and technological competition that have prompted a rethinking of supply chains. Among close partners, varying regulatory preferences to introduce security standards require intensified cooperation.
The panel focuses on this nexus between cybersecurity and critical technologies to explore what can be learned from the past course of cybersecurity governance for the future governance of CETs.
Session moderator James Shires answered some questions for us about what we can all look forward to in Session 4.
What is the importance of holding conversations on emerging technologies in today’s world?
Today’s world is already being shaped by emerging technologies, their incredible potential benefits and their uncertain risks. However, emerging technologies are often less emerging or less novel than we often assume, stemming from decades of international research and relying on industrial processes and materials that have long been the subject of geopolitical conflict and market competition. We need to not only hold more conversations about the new aspects of these technologies, but make sure those conversations also connect with and build upon lessons learnt in previous generations.
What can participants expect from attending this session?
Participants can expect a robust interrogation of the concepts of “critical” and “emerging” technologies, including why states select some technologies not others as critical and emerging and what that means for state policy, resources, and regulation. The overall frame of the discussion will be around cyber and digital security, which is a fundamental aspect of most critical and emerging technologies. Participants will leave with a better understanding of how critical and emerging technologies generate new cybersecurity risks, and how those risks can in turn be addressed via a combination of social, political and technological responses.
What aspect are you most looking forward to being explored in the session, considering the speakers and their specialties?
I am most looking forward to the question of military adoption of emerging technologies, given we have a fantastic expert on this subject in Alexandra Paulus (SWP). Alexandra will consider the issues faced by militaries (traditionally slow-moving, bureaucratic entities) in keeping pace with technological change, while not unintentionally making themselves more vulnerable in the process. Of course, while current conflicts make this a highly pressing question, the other speakers (Jakob Bund and Nikolas Ott) will keep the conversation tied to broader questions around multistakeholder governance of emerging technologies.
Which other session are you most looking forward to attending in the 1st REMIT conference?
I am looking forward to all of it! I would have loved to attend the parallel session on geopolitics and advocacy in the governance of strategic technologies, but unfortunately I can’t (yet) be in two places at once. The PhD session on Day 2, run by Max Smeets, is crucial for bringing new and creative voices into the research field, while keynotes by renowned experts such as Christian-Marc Lifländer will really set the scene well.
Session speakers
James Shires is the Co-Director of the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI) and the European Cyber Conflict Research Incubator (ECCRI CIC). He is also a Fellow with The Hague Program on International Cyber Security. He was previously a Senior Research Fellow in Cyber Policy at Chatham House, and before that an Assistant Professor in Cybersecurity Governance at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, University of Leiden. He has written widely on issues of cybersecurity and international politics, including cybersecurity expertise, digital authoritarianism, spyware regulation, and hack-and-leak operations. He is the author of The Politics of Cybersecurity in the Middle East (Hurst/Oxford University Press, 2021), and co-editor of Cyberspace and Instability (Edinburgh University Press, 2023). A full list of publications is available at jamesshires.com
Alžběta Bajerová is a threat analyst at NATO HQ’s Cyber Threat Analysis Branch, where she provides advisory to NATO’s leadership on cyber-enabled threats. She focuses on topics of cyber security, state-sponsored cyber programmes, and cyber-enabled influence, including as a Research Fellow at the Association for International Affairs in Prague. She has over five years of experience working in the public sector on defence-related issues, including from NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence and Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency. Previously, Alžběta worked as a journalist covering international politics. Alžběta holds a MA degree in Security Studies from Masaryk University, where she also gained a BA in International Relations.
Jakob Bund is an Associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), where he serves as threat intelligence liaison for the European Repository of Cyber Incidents (EuRepoC) and editor of the monthly Cyber Conflict Briefing series. Jakob is also a Senior Researcher for Cyber Conflict and Statecraft at the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI). His research focuses on evolutions in state responses to malicious cyber activity. Until 2022, he headed the Cyberdefense Project at the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich, advising the Office of Cyberdefense Policy in the Swiss Department of Defense. Previously, Jakob worked as researcher at Oxford University and the EU Institute for Security Studies, assessing the inclusive development of cybersecurity strategies for the British Foreign Office and the World Bank and supporting the EU’s track-two dialogues with strategic partners.
Nikolas Ott is a Senior Manager at Microsoft European Government Affairs. His portfolio includes cyber diplomacy, cyber threat intelligence, cyber defense policy, foreign and security policy and cyber capacity building. Previously, he worked in the cyber/ICT security team of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). He is an alumnus of the Mercator Fellowship of International Affairs and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. He holds a M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University) and B.A. in Political Science from the Freie Universität Berlin.
Dr. Alexandra Paulus is a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), a Berlin-based foreign and security policy think tank, where she works on cybersecurity policy and emerging technologies. Her expertise covers cyber diplomacy, German and European cyber foreign policy, and cyber norms implementation. Specifically, previous projects have focused on software supply chain security, official public political attribution of cyber operations, and the nexus between cyber norms implementation and cyber capacity-building. Previous to her position at SWP, Alexandra was Project Director for Cybersecurity Policy and Resilience at tech policy think-tank Stiftung Neue Verantwortung and completed her Ph.D. on Brazil’s role in the construction of global cyber norms. She is also an alumna of the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI).