Rights before risks: Rethinking quantum innovation at WSIS+20
Quantum technology is racing ahead, but without urgent global cooperation and a human rights-first approach, it could reshape the digital world in ways that deepen inequality and erode fundamental freedoms.
At the WSIS+20 High-Level Event in Geneva, a powerful call was made to ensure the development of quantum technologies remains rooted in human rights and inclusive governance. A UNESCO-led session titled ‘Human Rights-Centred Global Governance of Quantum Technologies’ presented key findings from a new issue brief co-authored with Sciences Po and the European University Institute.
It outlined major risks—such as quantum’s dual-use nature threatening encryption, a widening technological divide, and severe gender imbalances in the field—and urged immediate global action to build safeguards before quantum capabilities mature.
UNESCO’s Guilherme Canela emphasised that innovation and human rights are not mutually exclusive but fundamentally interlinked, warning against a ‘false dichotomy’ between the two. Lead author Shamira Ahmed highlighted the need for proactive frameworks to ensure quantum benefits are equitably distributed and not used to deepen global inequalities or erode rights.
With 79% of quantum firms lacking female leadership and a mere 1 in 54 job applicants being women, the gender gap was called ‘staggering.’ Ahmed proposed infrastructure investment, policy reforms, capacity development, and leveraging the UN’s International Year of Quantum to accelerate global discussions.
Panellists echoed the urgency. Constance Bommelaer de Leusse from Sciences Po advocated for embedding multistakeholder participation into governance processes and warned of a looming ‘quantum arms race.’ Professor Pieter Vermaas of Delft University urged moving from talk to international collaboration, suggesting the creation of global quantum research centres.
Journalist Elodie Vialle raised alarms about quantum’s potential to supercharge surveillance, endangering press freedom and digital privacy, and underscored the need to close the cultural gap between technologists and civil society.
Overall, the session championed a future where quantum technology is developed transparently, governed globally, and serves as a digital public good, bridging divides rather than deepening them. Speakers agreed that the time to act is now, before today’s opportunities become tomorrow’s crises.
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