Friday, October 11 has been set for the Cyber Stability Hearings and will be dedicated to “Norm Implementation & Capacity Building: Two Sides of the Same Coin?” Hosted by the GCSC, the African Union Commission and the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE), the Hearings are conducted in roundtable format and will feature discussions between GCSC Commissioners and representatives from government, the private sector and civil society on matters pertaining to international peace and security in cyberspace. They will provide advanced insight into and discussion about some of the current developments and thinking on norms of responsible behavior in cyberspace, implementation and enforcement mechanisms, and the way forward for the international security architecture in cyberspace.

Despite significant progress in the UN and a host of other, including multi-stakeholder, efforts such as the Paris Call on Trust and Security in Cyberspace, norm adoption and implementation is still in its relative infancy and much needs to be done to promote proposed norms and secure acceptance. The Cyber Stability Hearings seek to foster discussion on how norm implementation and capacity building can work together to build shared beliefs and encourage adherence and accountability.

The Hearings in Addis Ababa are open to all those participating in the GFCE Annual Meeting. Observers will have the opportunity to hear from a variety of stakeholders in the cyberspace domain and pose questions to participants and GCSC Commissioners.

The GCSC will then meet in closed sessions in the afternoon of Friday, October 11 and on Saturday, October 12. Commissioners will discuss elements of the final report, including the working definition of cyber stability and its underlying principles, and recommendations on what the wider international peace and security community needs to do to meet that definition. Feedback from the Request for Consultation on the Definition of Stability of Cyberspace—as well as comments and suggestions proposed during the Cyber Stability Hearings—will be assessed by GCSC Commissioners, looking at how they might be incorporated into the final report before it is released in November.

Further updates on the GCSC meeting in Addis Ababa, including information on the Cyber Stability Hearings, will be posted on the website.

If you would like to attend the GCSC Cyber Stability Hearings please reach out to the Secretariat at cyber@hcss.nl for more information.

More information on the GFCE and its Annual Meeting can be found on the GFCE website.

You can also follow updates on the GCSC Twitter account (@theGCSC), or sign up to the weekly newsletter.

Click here to read the announcement on the GCSC website.