About Cyber Alliance
A Joint Program of Cyber Peace Foundation, In Association with the Ostrom Workshop
Given the increasingly crowded playing field that comprises multi-stakeholder Internet governance, including a resurgent role of countries such as China’s ‘cyber sovereignty’ drive, along with pervasive cyber insecurity, the time has come for a new approach to enhancing twenty-first century cybersecurity and promoting cyber peace. To that end, the Cyber Peace Foundation, in association with the Cybersecurity and Internet Governance Research Program at the Ostrom Workshop, Indiana University, is launching a Cyber Peace Alliance that will act as a policy and thought incubator on cybersecurity and issues in the field of Internet regulation and governance.
Even today, eighteen years into the 21st century, national responsibilities, jurisdiction, dispute resolution and international agreements remain immature to meet the myriad challenges in cyberspace. The growth of capabilities and technology is tremendous, however. At this rate, the most pressing question to talk about is whether there are effective measures to foster cyber peace, and how international law and policy can help foster that goal.
To answer these questions, build resilient and sound governance structures, and to foster research in the field of cybersecurity, the Cyber Peace Alliance is one of the first initiatives of its kind in which non-profits will partner with an interdisciplinary academic group to better define the field of “cyber peace,” and to help shape policy that will contribute to its realization. The alliance will comprise of scholars, academicians, service providers, and all interested parties on the Internet. The members will meet from time to time with specific agendas and through a formal process float ideas and mature them into workable models, be it technology, business, policy, law, economics, development etc. There may be many facets that need to be looked into, such as cybercrime, data protection and privacy, Internet of Things security, and critical infrastructure protection. The Alliance will host events, discussions, and research on specific these issues, and more.
Some of the key goals this initiative aims to achieve
- Collaborative research and translating research findings into effective policy making for a trustworthy cyberspace.
- Achieve multi-disciplinary, multi-sector, multi-stakeholder partnership might meaningful progress be made toward engendering sustainable models of Internet governance and an equitable cyber peace
- Adopt a polycentric approach to both Internet governance and cybersecurity risk management.
- Better coordination among nations for information interchange across sovereign boundaries to combat cybercrime and threats, while building out a global norm on cybersecurity due diligence.
- Knowledge exchange among peers will help in greater inclusion and more penetration of security measures across communities.
The unique feature of the Cyber Peace Alliance is that it comprises of equal participation from all stakeholders on the Internet indicating that a business process will never be left unattended legally and a legal process will not mandate what technology cannot enforce. In such an ecosystem, it is clear how innovation is bound to happen and through this approach of inclusive growth, sustainable, workable, practical and implementable solutions are achievable goals.
Through Cyber Peace Foundation and the Indiana University Ostrom Workshop acting as co-facilitators of the Alliance, it has become convenient to bring all functionaries to the table and segregate roles and responsibilities. While one arm of the alliance works on technological research, other might work on an innovative policy idea. As an organisation although, we have been doing these works through different channels and mediums but the alliance is an extension of our belief and an initiative that is aimed at bringing the world together to start talking about Cyber Peace.