Regional CT TECH Awareness Raising Workshop for South- and Southeast Asia
The UNOCT/UNCCT Global Counter-Terrorism Programme on Cybersecurity and New Technologies held a Regional CT TECH Awareness Raising Workshop for South- and Southeast Asian Partner States in Bangkok, Thailand from 25-26 October.
The workshop focused on operational responses to counter the use of new technologies for terrorist purposes, while protecting human rights, and developing national counter-terrorism policies. 24 officials from 7 CT Tech Partner States attended the workshop along with 9 participants from the EU, private sector, and embassies of Australia, the United States, Canada, Japan, Kuwait, and the Republic of Korea to Thailand.
During the opening session, Mr. Andreas Roettger, Head of Asia Pacific, from the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, emphasized that “New and emerging technologies remain high on the list of the priorities for action in the [EU Counter-Terrorism] strategy that calls for preparedness on the threats from new and emerging technologies. This is one of the reasons why we need also to equip law enforcement with the proper capacity to react and counter terrorism in this constantly evolving environment.
In a video message, Deputy to the Under-Secretary General and Director of UNOCT, Mr. Raffi Gregorian welcomed participants and introduced the seven knowledge products launched under the CT TECH initiative as tools for member states in their efforts to counter the use of new tech for terrorist purposes. “In this era of rapid technological advancements, we find ourselves confronted with the challenges and opportunities that new technologies offer. We hope that these knowledge products and the workshop will help Member States determine whether you need to reassess your strategies and adapt your approaches to counter the use of new technologies for terrorist purposes going forward,” he said.
During the workshop, CT TECH Partner States from South- and Southeast Asia shared their good practices, presented examples and various cases on how they counter the use of new technologies for terrorist purposes, and identified areas to enhance their responses. In addition, they provided an overview of their country-specific legislations with regards to new technologies in countering terrorism.
The UNOCT/UNCCT Global Counter-Terrorism Programme on Cybersecurity and New Technologies, together with INTERPOL presented the seven knowledge products launched under the CT TECH initiative during this year’s United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week in June. The workshop provided an opportunity for participants to better understand these publications.
The workshop in Bangkok was the fourth in a series of five CT TECH regional awareness raising workshops organized by UNOCT between September and November 2023. The final workshop will be convened in November in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, hosting CT TECH Partner States in Latin America and the Caribbean region.
The CT TECH initiative was launched in 2022 as a joint UNOCT/UNCCT and INTERPOL undertaking, implemented under UNOCT/UNCCT Global Counter-Terrorism Programme on Cybersecurity and New Technologies and funded by the European Union. It aims to strengthen the capacities of law enforcement and criminal justice authorities to counter the exploitation of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, as well as support the leveraging of new and emerging technologies in the fight against terrorism.