EWI’s Cyber Summit Begins in Berkeley

News | March 15, 2017

The EastWest Institute’s Global Cyberspace Cooperation Summit VII kicked off on March 14, the first of the three-day summit that convenes over 200 leading policymakers, business leaders and technical experts from over 37 countries to discuss and develop policy solutions concerning the most pressing security issues in international cyberspace.

Day I featured Breakthrough Working Group sessions on the following topics:

Ubiquitous Encryption and Lawful Government Access

The national debate on encryption has produced a fault line between law enforcement and industry—and balancing security versus privacy. Recognizing that no single solution will suffice, over the course of two sessions, discussants examined specific challenges and scenarios relevant to government access to encrypted data and possible solutions to overcome obstacles faced by agencies tasked to protect national security and public safety. Perspectives were drawn from global participants comparing emerging national policies between the United States and India and European nations. Everywhere, there are challenges with policy development and actual implementation. Insights were provided by commercial, government representatives, law enforcement (FBI and Europol) and information security (ENISA). A key point of concern is the lack of capacity on the part of smaller entities to deal with the growing availability of encryption.      

Resilient Cities and Internet of Things     

The Internet of Things (IoT) holds amazing opportunities to interact with and leverage technology, but the ever expanding connectivity creates an unprecedented set of security threats, vulnerabilities and consequences. In particular, cities are increasingly dependent on cyber for driving sustainable solutions. Over the course of four sessions, over 30 experts explored building city capabilities for cyber resilience, and approaches to ensure the security of critical infrastructure like power grids. Debate surrounded the risks and liabilities of new connectivity technologies; concerns over privacy; along with a critical question—how much input from the general public is required to deploy IoT?

Increasing the Global Availability and Secure Use of ICT Products and Services

This breakthrough group looked at cybersecurity and privacy risks that are inherent in information ICT products and services. The EWI ICT Buyers Guide was used a reference point, providing underlying principles to launch the discussion. Participants examined the steps required for establishing objective standards, best practices and risk management techniques to aid purchasers in making informed decisions. Emphasis was placed on determining means of strategic collaboration to further enhance ICT security and supply chain risk; the role of trade agreements as having value in making ICT products more secure; and consideration for how binding trade agreements set the “rules of the road”—complementing non-binding cybersecurity norms as espoused in international fora.

Systemic Risk and Cyber Insurance

Can we define systemic cyber risk? Can it be measured or even managed? This workshop examined the cascading effects of possible systemic failures and the cross-sector impact on industries around the globe. Participants examined a conceptual framework that would encourage the business community and insurance industry to work together to share more robust Internet data in an effort to better mitigate and improve cybersecurity risk management. The workshop closed with a discussion on how U.S. policy effects systemic risk, analyzing the impacts on the passing of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) on the insurance community.  

Promoting Norms of Responsible Behavior in Cyberspace     

Global security and prosperity depend on a secure and stable cyberspace. This reality demands an international forum that can effectively deepen consensus of cyber norms. In this context, participants were introduced to the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC), a joint initiative between the government of the Netherlands, the EastWest Institute and The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies. Launched in February, the GCSC will serve as a multistakeholder-oriented institution to generate, evaluate and recommend various cyberspace state and non-state norms of behavior and propose policy initiatives. Well received by participants, a spirited discussion ensued, seeking elaboration on the aspects of “hard” versus “soft” norms; “norm collision” versus “norm coherence” and the importance of a bottom-up approach to ensure impact.

Reports on each of the breakthrough group will be made available on the final day of the Summit.

Looking Forward

Day II of the Summit will feature plenaries on the State of Cyber Cooperation, including a keynote presentation by Peter Altabef, President and CEO of Unisys and Katherine Getao, ICT Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology of Kenya.  

Please check back for an update on activities concerning the remainder of the Summit.

For more information about the Summit, click here.

To view the Day II plenaries via livestream, click here.

Follow us on Twitter at @EWInstitute for live updates! Use the hashtag #EWIcyber to join in the conversation.

Click here for Day II

Click here for Day III