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Global Cybersecurity Challenges: Disentangling Risks and Opportunities in International Politics

From

11
9:00 am July 2019

To

11
5:45 pm July 2019

 

Paris, France

The Policy Center for the New South and the French Institute for International Relations (Ifri) are organizing the Ifri-PCNS Roundtables under the theme Disentangling Risks and Opportunities in International Politics. This conference is taking place in the context of the Ifri-PCNS partnership. 

International politics are increasingly intertwined with cyber-related issues. Cyberattacks are more and more frequent and sophisticated; their perpetrators, like their victims, may be governments or private actors. Cyberconflict is a particularly difficult phenomenon to grasp, given the multiplicity of actors involved, the difficulty of attributing attacks to a specific actor, and the emergence of new forms of “information warfare”. Attempts to regulate cyberspace on a global scale have so far met with only limited results due to fierce international competition among cyber powers. The tremendous multiplication of connected, “smart” devices and the multifaceted expectations towards 5G networks increase the geopolitical risks. Key global powers now assert themselves with regard to the network’s infrastructure (Internet, submarine cables, telecommunications equipment), crossed by huge financial and national security stakes. 

Agenda

 

09:00 – 09:15

Opening Remarks

Marc Hecker, Director of Publication & Research Fellow, Ifri (Paris)
Mohammed Loulichki, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South (Rabat)

09:15 – 10:45

Panel 1: Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity has become one of the major stakes for governments, private actors and citizens. National strategies are being either sharpened, either elaborated, mostly blurring the lines between defensive and offensive actions in cyberspace. Proxies contribute to complicate the ‘game’, blending national security rationale with market-related motives. How do these players interact, and to what aim? Are any alliances to be expected in a twofold context of dire transatlantic relations and acute perception of the Chinese ‘threat’?

Chair

Stephanie HareIndependent Researcher and Broadcaster (London)

Speakers

Kevin Signé, Information Security Expert & Managing Partner, LMPS Group (Rabat)

Patrick Pawlak, Executive Officer, EUISS (Brussels)

Isabel Skierka, Research Analyst and Advisor, Digital Society Institute, ESMT (Berlin)

Joan Ali Beri, Lecturer on Cyber Criminality, University of Buea (Cameroon)

10:45 – 11:00

Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:30

Panel 2: Artificial Intelligence

Breakthrough technologies like artificial intelligence and 5G have clear ‘high politics’ stakes on the global stage. In this session speakers will stress that geopolitical dimension by focusing on key challenges: China’s ambitious strategies in AI and 5G and their implications for the West; the European Union’s answer(s) in these fields, and the global legal challenges posed by the dissemination of these technologies, as well as the impact of AI as a lever of development in Africa.

Chair

Alfredo Valladao, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South

Speakers

Megan Lamberth, Research Assistant, Technology and National Security Program, Center for a New American Security (Washington DC)

Lucien Castex, Secretary-General, Internet Society France Chapter (Paris)

Jan-Peter Kleinhans, Project Director Security in the Internet of Things, Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (Berlin)

Jean-Christophe Noel, Associate Fellow, Security Studies Center, Ifri (Paris)

14:30 – 15:45

Panel 3: Cyberspace Infrastructure

The infrastructure of the Internet is increasingly challenged by governments eager to assert their own “sovereigntization” over the network (in particular submarine cables, data centers, servers and routers), and decentralized initiatives aimed at bypassing traditional governmental prerogatives, such as cryptocurrencies. Speakers will highlight these multifaceted policies and stress the challenges for international politics.

Chair

Julien Nocetti, Research Fellow, Ifri (Paris)

Speakers

Jean-Luc Vuillemin, Executive VP International Networks, Infrastructures & Services, Orange (Paris)

Camille Morel, PhD Candidate, IRSEM (Paris)

Clément Jeanneau, Cofounder, Blockchain Partner (Paris)

Réda Berrehili, Founder, Ki Foundation (Paris)

15:45 – 16:00

Coffe Break

16:00 – 17:30

Panel 4: Comparative Cyber Approaches

The global cyber policy landscape is increasingly characterized by its splitting up; the United States and China have started a race for technological leadership in the XXIth century while Europe, and Africa, seem to act defensively, being subjected to offensive strategies. How do these policies materialize and interact, and how could the European and African continents assert themselves in the cyber realm?

Chair

Marc Hecker, Director of Publication & Research Fellow, Ifri (Paris)

Speakers

Julien Nocetti, Research Fellow, Ifri

Douglas Gichuki, Scholar in Information Law and Technology, Strathmore Law School & The University of Capetown (Cape Town)

Alice Ekman, Head of China Research, Ifri (Paris)

17:30 –17:45

 Closing Remarks
 

Speakers
Mohammed Loulichki
Senior Fellow
Mohammed Loulichki is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and an Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. He brings over 40 years of comprehensive experience in diplomacy, conflict resolution, and human rights. He has served in various roles including as a member and Deputy Head of the Moroccan delegation to the 3rd Conference on the Law of the Sea (1982-1990), Head of the Department of Legal Affairs and Treaties at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1988-1991), and General Director for Multilateral Affairs in the same ministry (2003-2006).   He also acted as Morocco's Ambassador to Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Croatia (1995-1999), and was the Moroccan Government's Ambassador Coordinator with MINURSO (1999-2001). Furthermore, he served ...
Alfredo Da Gama e Abreu Valladão
Senior Fellow
Alfredo G. A. Valladão is Senior Fellow at Policy Center for the New South and Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of Sciences Po Paris, who focuses on international affairs, geopolitics, global economics, Brazil and Latin America. Alongside these positions, he is President of the Advisory Board at EU-Brazil association in Brussels, Member International Advisory Board of CEBRI (Brazilian Center for International Relations – Rio de Janeiro), Member of the Comité des Rencontres Internationales de Genève (RIG), Director of the Latin America Research Chair at CESEM-HEM in Morocco and a columnist for Radio France Internationale (RFI). Former member of the Board of Trustees of UNITAR (2009-1015), and former Director of the Mercosur Chair of Sciences Po (199 ...
Marc Hecker
Director of Publication & Research Fellow, Ifri (Paris)
...
Jan-Peter Kleinhans
Project Director, Security in the Internet of Things, Stiftung Neue Verantwortung
...
Megan Lamberth
Research Assistant, Technology and National Securtiy Program, Center for a New American Society
Megan Lamberth is a researcher for the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where she focuses on artificial intelligence policy and emerging technology. Prior to joining CNAS, Megan was a Brent Scowcroft Fellow with the Aspen Strategy Group. In May 2018, Megan graduated from the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University. As a Master of International Affairs student, Megan concentrated in U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East. ...
Camille Morel
PhD Candidate, IRSEM
Camille Morel is a PhD candidate in Law and Political Science at the Centre of Lyon for International Security and Defence Studies (CLESID), Jean Moulin Lyon III University. Her research focuses on the legal regime and strategic issues of submarine cables. Camille Morel’s PhD research is funded by the Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy (DGRIS) and she is associated with the Institute for Strategic Studies (IRSEM). ...
Julien Nocetti
Research Fellow, Ifri
Julien Nocetti is a Research Fellow at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) since 2009, where he is a specialist on global digital and cyber issues. As such he researches on the intersection between technology and international politics. His latest publications deal with the geopolitics of cyber conflict, China’s assertiveness in artificial intelligence, and Europe’s digital and data policies. Julien Nocetti is also a Russia expert, in particular Russian foreign and domestic Internet policies. Among his recent publications: “D’un monde à l’autre ? Les implications de l’intelligence artificielle en politique internationale”, Note de l’Ifri (to be published, 2019); “Dazed and confused: Russian information warfare – The Syria lessons”, IMED Policy Brief, Februar ...
Patryk Pawlak
Executive Officer, EUISS (Brussels Office)
Dr. Patryk Pawlak heads the Brussels office of the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)—an EU agency dealing with the analysis of foreign, security and defence policies of the European Union. In this capacity, he is responsible for developing and maintaining relations with Brussels-based stakeholders. In addition, Dr Pawlak coordinates the Institute’s cyber-related engagements. Since February 2018, he manages the EU Cyber Direct—a multimillion project implemented in cooperation with the European External Action Service—aimed at supporting the EU’s cyber-related cooperation with six major partners: Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. He also serves as a Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise—a global platform for ...
Kevin Signé
Information Security Expert & Managing Partner, LMPS Group
Kevin Signé is an expert in information security, risk management and IT Governance. As a partner in the LMPS Group, he looks at technical challenges and innovative projects related to information security. His ambition is to make information security, including cybersecurity, a reality in Africa and around the world. His skills cover the entire value chain of information security, processes, technology, people. He has worked on several projects that include, but that are not limited to the following areas: Cybersecurity and the fight against digital fraud, PCI DSS-CARd Payment Industry (QSA PCI Auditor), ISO27001, WLS SCADA-Information Security and Industrial Systems, ISO22301-business continuity, COBIT, ISO20000 & ITIL-Governance and IT Service Management, Legal complian ...
Isabel Skierka
Research Analyst and Advisor, Dgital Society Institute, ESMT Berlin
Isabel Skierka is a research analyst for cybersecurity policy and strategy with the Digital Society Institute at ESMT Berlin. She is also pursuing a PhD at the Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance at Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia, in which she explores security vulnerability management in digital government infrastructures. Besides, she is a non-resident fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) and a next generation member in the Internet Governance Forum Germany's steering committee. Previously, she worked at the GPPi, at NATO and – as a trainee – at the EU Commission. Isabel Skierka holds an MA from the War Studies Department of King's College London and a BA in European Studies from Maastricht University. ...