United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research

Acronym: UNIDIR

Established: 1980

Address: Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Website: https://www.unidir.org/

Stakeholder group: International and regional organisation

Founded in 1980, UNIDIR is a voluntarily funded, autonomous institute within the United Nations. One of the few policy institutes worldwide focusing on disarmament, UNIDIR generates knowledge and promotes dialogue and action on disarmament and security. Based in Geneva, UNIDIR assists the international community to develop the practical, innovative ideas needed to find solutions to critical security problems.

Contents

Digital activities

The research areas of UNIDIR’s SecTec focus on cybersecurity, such as threats and vulnerabilities related to information and communications technologies (ICTs), and the use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) applications in warfare. SecTec has supported the UN processes on ICTs Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) and the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) and continues to support the OEWG on security of and in the use of ICTs (2021–2025). It focuses on research and awareness raising on this topic with a broad range of stakeholders and maps the cybersecurity policy landscape.

Digital policy issues

Cybersecurity

SecTec builds knowledge and raises awareness of the security implications of new and emerging technologies. Cyber stability is one area of focus for UNIDIR, the work of which supports the implementation of specific norms and recommendations previously agreed by member states. It also explores options to strengthen cyber stability and crisis management mechanisms. UNIDIR provides technical and expert advice to the chairpersons of the UN GGE and OEWG on norms, international law, confidence-building measures, capacity building, cooperation, and institutional dialogue. The annual Cyber Stability Conference brings various stakeholders together to promote a secure and stable cyberspace and in particular the role of the UN processes such as the OEWG on Security of and in the Use of Information and Communications Technologies (2021–2025).

Launched in 2019, the Cyber Policy Portal is an interactive map of the global cyber policy landscape. It provides profiles of the cyber policies of all 193 UN member states, in addition to various intergovernmental organizations and multi-stakeholder instruments and other initiatives. This confidence-building tool supports informed participation by relevant stakeholders in all policy processes and promotes trust, transparency, and cooperation in cyberspace. The updated version of the portal was launched in May 2022, providing several new features, such as full text search, and is available in all UN official languages.

Accessible from the portal, the National Survey of Implementation of United Nations Recommendations of Responsible Use of ICTs by States in the Context of International Security collates national take-up of the recommendations from the 2015 GGE report, with a view to assisting assessment of their further development and implementation. The survey allows UN member states to conduct regular self-assessments of national implementation of the recommendations.

It can also support UN member states in responding to an invitation from the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to continue to inform the Secretary-General of their views and assessments on the issue of developments in the field of ICTs in the context of international security.

It supports transparency, information sharing, and confidence building by giving UN member states the possibility of making the results of the survey publicly available on their national profiles on UNIDIR’s Cyber Policy Portal.

The Cyber Policy Portal Database provides direct access to documents and references through the profiles of all 193 UN member states on the Cyber Policy Portal. The database allows searching across several categories, including state, type of document, topic, issuing body, and more.

Publication

Events

Artificial intelligence

AI and the weaponization of increasingly autonomous technologies is one of UNIDIR’s current research areas. It aims to raise awareness and build capacities of various stakeholders, including member states, technical communities, academia, and the private sector. Research on AI covers a broad range of topics from human decision-making, autonomous vehicles, and swarm technologies.

UNIDIR SecTec recently launched the Artificial Intelligence Policy Portal. This tool gathers available information at the national, regional, and international levels on policies, processes, and structures that are relevant to the development and use of AI for military or security purposes. The Portal has been developed to support transparency, information sharing, and confidence building in the field of AI.

Publications

Events

Emerging technologies

UNIDIR’s research equally focuses on security dimensions of innovations in science and technology. In synergy with the Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament and recent UNGA resolutions on the role of science and technology in the context of international security, UNIDIR proactively identifies and examines emerging and over-the-horizon innovations. It analyses potential implications for international security and facilitates dialogue among relevant stakeholders to encourage cross-sector cooperation.

Publications

Events

Digital tools

National survey of implementation of United Nations recommendations on responsible use of ICTs by states in the context of international security
Cyber Policy Portal Database – UNIDIR Cyber Policy Portal Database is a valuable addition to the suite of digital tools developed by UNIDIR to promote transparency, information sharing, and confidence- and capacity-building in the digital age. With over 1500 documents, the database provides a wealth of information for policymakers and practitioners in the field of cybersecurity.
Artificial Intelligence Policy Portal – The UNIDIR Artificial Intelligence Policy Portal serves as an interactive global map of AI policy landscape. It includes profiles of AI policies for all 193 UN Member States, along with various intergovernmental organizations and multistakeholder initiatives. This tool is designed to encourage informed participation in all policy processes, fostering transparency, information sharing, confidence, and capacity building in the emerging field of AI. UNIDIR encourages governments to continually share updates regarding their national profiles using the AI Policy Portal Submission Survey.
Biological Weapons Convention National Implementation Measures Database: Over the last two decades, many initiatives designed to reduce biological risks have emerged at the international, regional, local, and institutional levels, including risk assessment mechanisms, codes of conduct, dual-use education, and voluntary peer review initiatives. It is unclear what happened to many of these measures or indeed, whether they worked. To take stock of these earlier risk-reduction measures and build an evidence base to inform the development of future measures, UNIDIR developed a virtual repository of these risk mitigation measures, complete with insights around lessons learned from these instruments.
Space Security Portal: Space policies and doctrines are evolving rapidly as more states articulate their perspectives and approaches to addressing space security. Building on the success of the Institute’s Cyber Policy Portal, UNIDIR developed the Space Security Portal to serve as a one-stop online hub for materials on the space security policies of key stakeholders, including states and regional organizations.

Conferencing technologies

UNIDIR has organized virtual events, meetings, and workshops through video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Webex.

In addition, UNIDIR’s 2022 Cyber Stability Conference was hosted on a browser-based streaming platform, StreamYard, and was broadcast across various social media channels.