Outlining his priorities for 2022 to the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “we face a five-alarm global fire that requires the full mobilization of all countries,”, referring to the raging COVID-19 pandemic, a morally bankrupt global financial system, the climate crisis, lawlessness in cyberspace, and diminished peace and security. Countries “must go into emergency mode”, he added, and now is the time to act as the response will determine global outcomes for decades ahead.
It is against this grim backdrop that the Global Alliance for Digital Governance proposes a “2022 action plan” for a world of peace and digital security. Together with the Boston Global Forum, it calls for urgent action to help fashion such a response and, in particular, address the following issues:
– Prevent cyber-attacks by governments (directly or through companies, organizations or individuals), consider these as acts of war against people and against other countries;
– Prevent cyber-attacks by companies, groups or individuals, which can be considered acts of serious crime against people.
It is envisaged that this endeavour will bring together an array of relevant contributors to a digitally secure world, including national governments and international organizations, civil society and academic entities, the corporate sector and private enterprise as well as the community of thinking, caring and influential individuals. It will contribute to building accord and law on the use of artificial intelligence and the preservation of cybersecurity that can contribute to the Global Digital Compact proposed by Secretary-General Guterres as part of the United Nations Summit of the Future which he will convene in 2023.
Planned between February 1, 2022 and April 30, 2022, envisaged activities include high level discussions, online “movements” and a conference. Their results and conclusions will be shared through the Boston Global Forum’s website and its AIWS Weekly Newsletter. The key coordinators of the Global Alliance for Digital Governance, and the proposed action plan, are Governor Michael Dukakis, Chair, and Nguyen Anh Tuan, CEO, of the Boston Global Forum.
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