22 November - 2 December
Online
2021 African Commonwealth Virtual Conference and Workshops
This conference will bring together representatives from across the African Commonwealth, the wider African continent, and the UK to share knowledge and experience, and to build new relationships that will help you improve your national and regional cyber security.
The goals of the conference are to encourage and support nations working together to increase resilience against cyber threats, and to build a more cyber-secure future through partnership and collaboration.
- Week 1 of the conference will start with scene-setting introductions, an immersive cyber exercise, and discussion around sharing experience, knowledge and lessons learned to support cyber security maturity growth across the African Commonwealth.
- Week 2 of the conference will focus on cyber threats - both current and emerging - and how we can work together to combat them. Special consideration is given to the importance of national cyber security strategies and cyber legislation.
24 November 2021
Online
Protecting the healthcare sector from cyber harm
15:00 – 17:00 CEST
If the past year has taught us anything, it has to be that we need to protect the healthcare sector from cyberattacks. Between January and August 2021 alone, the CyberPeace Institute recorded 77 disruptive attacks on healthcare organizations, of which the majority resulted in operational disruptions to the sector. These have a direct human impact as people are unable to access healthcare services, a basic human right.
The Czech Republic, the CyberPeace Institute, and Microsoft are taking action. Together, they kick-started the ‘Protecting the Healthcare Sector from Cyber Harm’ project which, over a series of thematic workshops, brings together healthcare, cybersecurity, and regulatory experts to identify good practices needed to protect this vital infrastructure. This is a multistakeholder issue that requires the attention of government, industry and civil society actors in order to come up with truly global solutions.
This event will explore challenges pertaining to, inter alia, accountability, state responsibility, due diligence, international human rights law, International Humanitarian Law, sovereignty and non-intervention as well as the use of force. It will explore existing initiatives and outcomes, including innovative recent ones such as the Oxford Process, with the aim of distilling good practices and recommendations, which we will endeavour to compile in a compendium to be published at the end of the workshop series.
24 Nov, 2021
Online
Launch Event: 2nd Edition of the Guide to developing a National Cybersecurity Strategy
A Consortium of Partner Organisations Launches the 2nd Edition of the Guide to Developing a National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS) on 24 November 12:00 - 15:00 UTC. Register here: https://launchncsguide2.gfce-events.com/
Digital technologies can be a powerful enabler and catalyst of inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development, but only if they are safe, secure, and resilient. In order to reap the benefits and manage the challenges of digitalization, countries need to frame their digital transformation and the proliferation of ICT-enabled infrastructures and services within a comprehensive National Cybersecurity Strategy.
To support governments in this endeavour, a consortium of partner organisations from the public, private sectors, civil society and academia jointly developed and published a Guide to Developing a National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS) in 2018. Since then, most countries have both accelerated their digital transformation and become increasingly concerned about the immediate and future threats to their critical services, infrastructures, institutions, and businesses, as well as to international peace and security that could result from cyber incidents.
The fast-changing nature of cyberspace, the increased dependency on ICTs, and the proliferation of digital risks all call for continuous improvements to national cybersecurity strategies. For this reason, the authors of the Guide have updated its content to reflect the evolving nature of cyberspace, as well as the main trends that can impact cybersecurity and should therefore be included into national strategic planning. The objective of this second edition is to instigate strategic thinking and help national cybersecurity stakeholders in the development and implementation of such national cybersecurity strategies and policies.
Themes & Topics
8 - 19 Nov, 2021
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC)
The International Telecommunication Union, through its Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), organizes a World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) in the period between two Plenipotentiary Conferences to consider topics, projects and programmes relevant to telecommunication development.
WTDCs set the strategies and objectives for the development of telecommunication/ICT, providing future direction and guidance to the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D).
17-19 November 2021
Online & Sydney, Australia
The Sydney Dialogue (TSD)
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s The Sydney Dialogue is a world-first summit for emerging, critical and cyber technologies. The inaugural dialogue will be hosted virtually from Australia and will begin on 17–19 November 2021.
The Sydney Dialogue (TSD) will have an Indo-Pacific focus and will bring business, government and technology leaders together with the world’s best strategic thinkers, to debate, generate ideas and work towards common understandings of the challenges posed by new technologies.
TSD provides a forum for the world to anticipate and respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by increasingly complex advances in technology. The dialogue will span both public and private activities, including keynotes, panels, roundtables, podcasts, an annual publication and more. While the dialogue will start in November, the conversation will extend into early 2022 as we continue to launch new events.
The program will commence with an opening address from Australian Prime Minister the Hon Scott Morrison MP.
The Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi – will also be giving a keynote address at the inaugural Sydney Dialogue.
Invitations will be issued to select delegates from around the world, with priority given to those in the Indo-Pacific region. This year, most plenary sessions will be broadcast live to the general public, others will be publicly available at a later stage and a small number will be closed-door.
16 - 18 November, 2021
Online
Octopus Conference
The Octopus Conference, held every 12 to 18 months by the Council of Europe, constitutes one of the biggest and finest platforms of exchange in cybercrime gathering experts from 80 countries, international organisations, private sector and academia.
This year’s Octopus Conference will take place on 16-18 November providing an opportunity for cybercrime experts from public and private sectors as well as international and non-governmental organizations from all over the world to share experience.
- A special event with high level interventions will be organized on 16 November in cooperation with the Hungarian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Budapest Convention and the 2nd additional Protocol on enhanced cooperation and disclosure of electronic evidence.
- On 17 and 18 November, multiple workshops will punctuate the day, including regional workshops (for Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Pacific, Africa), “lightning talks” with interventions by participants, and other thematic sessions (Capacity building, Ransomware, AI...). A closing Plenary session will take a look at Octopus take-aways.
16 November 2021
NICE Symposium: A Coordinated Approach to Supply Chain Risks
1:30 - 5:00 PM EST
The NICE Symposium: A Coordinated Approach to Supply Chain Risks is a half-day virtual symposium that serves as a precursor to the annual NICE Conference in June 2022.
In light of dramatic events and emerging threats, experts will come together on Tuesday, November 16 to discuss the role of the cybersecurity workforce and the need for a coordinated response to strengthen the supply chain.
Panel 1: Risk and Policy Considerations for Securing Cyberspace and Critical Infrastructure
Panel 2: Enhancing Software and Technology Supply Chain Security
11 - 13 Nov, 2021
Paris, France
Paris Peace Forum
The Paris Peace Forum is held every year on 11-13 November in Paris with the aim to place global governance at the top of the international agenda. Stakeholders discuss global governance issues and cooperate on solutions through three spaces:
- Space for Solutions: Presenting solutions for incremental change. All organizations can present their global governance project to a wide variety of stakeholders to showcase results and advance the initiative.
- Space for Debates: Discussing solutions rather than problems. Stakeholders discuss projects, initiatives, and ideas to address the challenges of our world.
- Space for Innovations: Developing digital prototypes. Experts help create technological solutions for the world of tomorrow.
In 2021, the Paris Peace Forum will focus on spurring a more inclusive recovery and offering initiatives to better tend to global challenges and global commons.
Organisation
8 - 12 November 2021
Online, United Kingdom
EmPower Cyber Week
The EmPower Cyber Week will take place from 8th - 12th November 2021. It will give 12 - 13 year olds an exciting opportunity to learn about cyber security. Each day will feature a different cyber-related theme, delivered through on-demand videos and live sessions - all available for free.
The five-day programme includes:
Day 1 - Cyber Security
Day 2 - Networks
Day 3 - Logic & Coding
Day 4 - Cryptography
Day 5 - Speciality Day
9 - 11 Nov, 2021
The Hague, Netherlands (the)
2021 Conference on Cyber Norms | Governing through crisis. Conflict, crises and the politics of cyberspace.
The Covid-19 pandemic has both stopped the world in its tracks as well as accelerated its pace digitally. As the world moved its daily life and work online to deal with the crisis, it also opened itself up to new cyber crises. The vulnerable health care sector was exposed to criminal and state attacks, vaccine manufacturers became subject to IP theft and espionage, and disinformation about Covid-19 muddied the national and international debate about the nature of the crisis and how to deal with it. The new digital ‘normal’ kept the world running, but also vastly increased the attack surface for malicious cyber actors. While some were trying to govern themselves through the crisis, others were using the crisis as a governance mechanism. ‘Never waste a good crisis’, comes in benign and in malicious shapes.
In cyberspace, crisis comes in many shapes and forms. Mis- and disinformation has created a crisis of trust in information and authority in many societies. For some states this is a governance problem, while for others it is an instrument of governance. New cyber operations keep shifting the goal posts on what is and is not acceptable behavior in cyberspace. Recent operations such as SolarWinds and the Microsoft Exchange hacks put pressure on the demarcation between cyber espionage and (military) cyber operations. Conceptual clarity is still very much subject to debate, with some analytical categories facing a crisis of their own. The field of UN cyber diplomacy has been governing itself through the crisis of the failure to reach consensus in the 2017 UN GGE by multiplying its processes. There is now an ongoing UN GGE, an OEWG process that reached consensus, a new OEWG round 2021-2025, a committee of experts to review the possibility of a UN cybercrime treaty and a proposal for a cyber Programme of Action (PoA) that is gaining support. All against a background of mounting geopolitical tensions and increased state cyber activity.
The relation between crisis and governance is inherently double faced. Crisis management is about preparedness, capacity and capacity building, resilience and more generally combining accurate threat and risk assessment with strategy, policy and resources. But crisis is also a method of governance: escalation can be a conscious political strategic choice, disinformation a policy tool and political and diplomatic fragmentation can be a positive outcome depending on where you stand and what your interests are. Crisis can fragment and can unite, can be a centrifugal or a centripetal force.
In 2021, we want to place the conversation about cyber norms in the perspective of crises. How well equipped are the governance mechanisms and diplomatic processes that have been put into place to deal with crisis? What are the effects of a global crisis like Covid-19 on state behaviour(s), diplomatic behaviour and international cooperation in cyberspace? What strategies do states – and other actors – develop to deal with crises? How do states use crisis, or the opportunities shaped by crises, to further their own interests? Why do some states escalate and other de-escalate?
The conference will take place in the Hague from 9 - 11 November 2021.
