On 9 November, Brad Smith (MDR ’84), Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer, called for a Digital Geneva Convention in a lecture at the United Nations in Geneva.

“Just as the world discovered that it could not prevent the scourges of war unless there were international rules to govern what happened on land, at sea and on the air”, said Mr Smith, “we now live in an age that requires established rules for cyberspace as well.”

“The world needs a Digital Geneva Convention, an approach which governments will adopt that says they will not attack civilians in time of peace, will not attack hospitals, will not attack electrical grids, will not attack political processes of other countries, will not use cyber weapons to steal the intellectual property of private companies, but instead will work together to help each other and the private sector respond when there are cyber attacks.”

Brad Smith’s talk formed part of the 2017 Geneva Lecture Series, jointly organised by UNITAR and UN Geneva in partnership with the Graduate Institute and the Geneva Internet Platform, and supported by the Fondation pour Genève.

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