On September 20, the EastWest Institute hosted a panel discussion on "Setting the Rules for the Digital Game: The Quest for Cyberspace Norms" at Stanford University, California, as part of the 4th Cyber Security Summit organized by the Munich Security Conference.

EWI CEO & President Cameron Munter introduced the panel. EWI Global Vice President Bruce McConnell, who leads the institute’s Global Cooperation in Cyberspace Initiative, moderated the discussion that featured speakers:

• Scott Charney, Corporate Vice President of the Trustworthy Computing Group, Microsoft, Redmond
• Elaine Korzak, Cybersecurity Fellow, Middlebury Institute of International Studies; Affiliate, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University, Monterey
• Christopher Painter, Coordinator for Cyber Issues, Department of State, United States of America, Washington, D.C.
• Latha Reddy, Former Deputy National Security Advisor of the Republic of India; Distinguished Fellow, EastWest Institute, Bangalore
• Uri Rosenthal, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Special Envoy for Cybersecurity, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of the Netherlands, The Hague

The lively discussion took on various elements of how to establish globally-recognized norms of behavior in cyberspace. The panelists unanimously agreed that there had been remarkable progress in developing norms for cyberspace within a very short time. Yet, they also noted that the world was still far from having a comprehensive and binding framework for accepted behavior in cyberspace.

According to Reddy, governments could provide leadership in the development of norms and rules, but in the end, a multi-stakeholder approach would be crucial. Charney argued that industry representatives, in particular, needed a seat at the table when discussing new norms. Referring to a recent debate at the Munich Security Conference, however, Painter noted that different companies often had very different views on necessary norms. Korzak, meanwhile, stressed the need to move beyond the creation of norms towards their implementation.

EWI’s cyber initiative will continue to work on this issue. Developing norms of behavior in cyberspace will also be addressed during EWI’s seventh Global Cyberspace Cooperation Summit on March 14-16, 2017 at the University of California Berkeley.

Photo credit: Munich Security Conference