(July 4th, 2016) Congressional Quarterly Roll Call recently interviewed Professor John Savage of Brown University‘s Department of Computer Science (Brown CS) to document a unique moment in history. “The May 26-27 meeting of the Group of Seven in Ise-Shima, Japan,” writes Paul Merrion, “produced the G7’s first-ever stand-alone agreement on cybersecurity, data protection and internet governance.”
To give a bit of history, the Boston Global Forum (BGF), chaired by former governor Michael Dukakis, was founded to bring together thought leaders and experts from around the globe to participate in open public forums to discuss and illuminate the most critical issues affecting the world at large. In February, their CEO, Tuan Nguyen, asked John to address BGF and prepare an agenda for the G7 Summit, working with other individuals affiliated with BGF to develop his presentation into a formal proposal.
The G7 agreement (“The G7 Ise-Shima Leaders’ Declaration”), which draws on the work of Savage and his colleagues, makes the landmark statement that cyberspace is under the rule of national law, and advocates for responsible state behavior during peacetime and the development of confidence-building measures to increase security. “It’s very significant,” John says. “It’s progress, it’s recognition that nations need to help one another.”
The full article, located here, is only available to subscribers, but a summary of the Declaration is available here.
For more information, please click the link that follows to contact Brown CS Communication Outreach Specialist Jesse C. Polhemus.