As technology develops, terrorists continue to adapt their strategies to exploit information and communications technologies (ICTs) to incite, recruit, fund, and plan terrorist acts. The Security Council recognizes this threat to both online and offline space and calls upon Member States to adopt measures to prevent and address it. As part of these efforts, on 29 November 2017 at the United Nations in New York, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, along with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), and Swiss non-governmental organization ICT4Peace, hosted an event to launch the next phase of Tech against Terrorism, a knowledge-sharing platform (KSP).
Tech against Terrorism, a joint project between CTED and ICT4Peace, is a public-private partnership that brings together ICT industry leaders – e.g. Facebook, Google, Kaspersky Lab, Microsoft, Telefonica, and Twitter – with startups, governments, and academia to tackle terrorist exploitation of the Internet. The knowledge-sharing platform establishes a sustainable mechanism to coordinate governments with the tech sector, bridges the knowledge-sharing capabilities between startups and ICT industry leaders, and encourages transparency and self-regulation.
The launch enabled major tech companies to reiterate the importance of the initiative, while smaller firms and startups highlighted challenges they face, from human to financial or management-related resources. H.E. Ambassador Cho Tae-yul of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi of the Permanent Mission of Spain, and H. E. Oliver Zehnder of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland, participated in the launch and each spoke of the necessity of continued efforts in addressing the growing threat of terrorists abusing ICTs. The Executive Director of CTED, Assistant Secretary-General Ms. Michèle Coninsx, emphasized the invaluable relationships developing through Tech against Terrorism among civil society, startup tech companies, established tech platforms, and the wider private sector.
Documents
Agenda for the event
Presentation by Miguel Sánchez SV, Global Chief Security Officer, Telefonica
Presentation by Jeff Collins, Vice President, After School
Webcast
The webcast recording of the event can be accessed
Photos
More photos from the event are available