In 2022, EU Cyber Direct - EU Cyber Diplomacy Initiative joined forces with the Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs and numerous research institutions and civil society organisations around the world to organise the second edition of the Closing the Gap Conference. This two-day conference aimed to explore more rigorously one of the key concepts in the international debates about the peaceful use of cyberspace: responsibility.
By focusing on responsibility and accountability as such, we brought to the fore the variety of views, ideas and mechanisms from different disciplines – law, international relations, political sciences, sociology, behaviour sciences – that influence practices of state and non-state actors in cyberspace.
During four different panels on 8 and 9 June 2022, eighteen scholars and experts presented their papers and views on how to close the gap in the regional processes and perspectives, international law, the multilateral processes and perspectives, and the participation of non-state actors. In addition, the event hosted two roundtables with experts from around the world on global perspectives on EU cyber diplomacy and on scholars and experts’ experiences on working with policymakers.
