Geneva Dialogue

The Geneva Dialogue on Responsible Behaviour in Cyberspace (Geneva Dialogue) is an international process established in 2018 to map the roles and responsibilities of non-state stakeholders – private sector, civil society, academia, and technical community – in contributing to greater security and stability in cyberspace. It is led by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and implemented by DiploFoundation, with support of the Republic and State of Geneva, C4DT, Swisscom and UBS.

In 2020–2021, the Geneva Dialogue concentrated on the private sector’s role in addressing vulnerabilities in digital products and ICTs. The output report presents insights from ongoing discussions with private sector partners and includes their written submissions. The document also sets out the definitions related to secure design that have been agreed upon by the partners and highlights some of the best practices that the partners are following to build more secure products and minimise ICT vulnerabilities. 

In 2023, the Geneva Dialogue launched a new phase to clarify the roles and responsibilities of relevant non-state stakeholders from the private sector, academia, civil society, and technical community (including open-source community) in the implementation of the agreed cyber norms. The first round focused on discussing the agreed cyber norms related to ICT supply chain security and responsible reporting of ICT vulnerabilities. 

Practically the Geneva Dialogue organises regular consultations to document stakeholder agreements and disagreements on the interpretation and implementation of the agreed norms, while gathering best practices that can inspire the international community. These findings are published in the Geneva Manual on Responsible Behaviour in Cyberspace.

Through the next phase in 2024, the Geneva Dialogue analyses the implementation of the agreed cyber norms and confidence-building measures (CBMs) related to critical infrastructure protection (CIP).