The Canada Centre for Global Security Studies (Canada Centre) at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto in conjunction with The SecDev Group, is convening an annual Cyber Security forum. This year’s forum is entitled “Securing the Cyber Commons: a Global Dialogue” and will take place on March 27-28, 2011 in Toronto.“Cyberspace is now the global domain within which all of society, economics, military, and politics are embedded. It is the fastest growing technology in world history, much of the growth occurring in the South and East as new digital natives come online. In part by design and in part by neglect, cyberspace is an ungoverned realm, and one increasingly characterized by crime, espionage, and warfare.” Stated Ron Deibert, Director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab. “Technologies are changing so quickly as to make existing national and international regulation obsolete and ineffective, or even counterproductive. The aim of the Dialogue is to chart the critical challenges in global cyber security faced by governments, the private sector, and the general public, and determine a way ahead.” Added Deibert.

The forum will include an influential mix of global leaders from governments, civil society, academia and private enterprise to participate in a facilitated conversation – a Global Dialogue – about the challenges of securing cyberspace, protecting human rights, and preserving cyberspace an open commons. The Dialogue will grapple with the hard questions of competing interests, values, and operational challenges presented by the new domain of cyberspace, and will cover a cross-section of policy, research, and advocacy tracks.

Among the topics to be discussed will be the future of cyberspace governance; the “rules of the road” around operations in the cyber domain; the challenges of international cooperation in dealing with cyber-crime; the prospects and opportunities for arms control in cyberspace; the balance between openness and security in cyberspace; and the threats to cyberspace as a forum for free expression and access to information.

For more information please contact:

Neil Desai – Director, Programs and Communications
Munk School of Global Affairs
416.946.5118
n.desai@utoronto.ca