The conference, to be opened by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, will focus on the protection of critical infrastructure, a key concern of national security, by strengthening the implementation of selected OSCE confidence-building measures (CBMs) to reduce the risks of conflict stemming from the use of information and telecommunication technologies (ICTs).

Hannes Tretter, Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, will be keynote speaker during the third round of Plenary Input Presentations entitled „What Should States Do to Promote an Open Internet?“ (Download, PDF). The session aims to explore the compatibility between the maintenance of an open and secure cyber environment and the requirements of civil liberties and privacy in the internet. What are the limits and also the scope of state responsibilities in this context? Hannes Tretter will discuss with Andrei Soldatov, investigative journalist, and with Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.

Please find further information on the OSCE website. Also, the conference opening session will be broadcast live on the OSCE website and social media channels.