In Search of a Global ‘Safe Place’

By Michael Fertik*

This week we have convened in Abu Dhabi for what is often called the world's largest brainstorm, the World Economic Forum's Summit on the Global Agenda meeting.  For the fourth year in a row, nearly 80 councils with 15-20 experts each, comprised the most relevant thought leaders from academia, business, civil society and government, are meeting to discuss topics as far-ranging as "Europe," "Aviation," “Geopolitical Risk,” "Organized Crime," and the "Role of Business." I am part of the Internet Security Council, which is led this year by Rosemary Leith of the World Wide Web Foundation. We are tackling tough and present issues of security, including 1) cyberwarfare, 2) the rising power of governmental lobbying by "big data"–Internet media companies that may want to cement their control over personal data streams, and 3) the future of individuals' control over their data. Our 2011 Council is composed of attending members from the US, Japan, the UAE, China, UK, and Switzerland.

A key objective of the Internet Security council will be finding ways to integrate our conclusions into the work now being undertaken by the World Economic Forum's Risk Response Network (RRN). A central effort launched this year, the RRN is pursuing a series of initiatives to understand, prepare for, and mitigate the greatest risks facing our world.  One such initiative, for example, is trying to provide a global "safe place" to have serious, open discussions about digital security breaches. As this year’s GAC “Securing Cyberspace” session has brought to our attention, more international cooperation is needed to investigate cyber attacks and try to solve the attribution problem. With 4.5 billion users around the world, an international framework may be one way to address the issue. Critical to the success of the RRN, the Internet Security Council, and other GAC Councils dedicated to guaranteeing security and privacy on the Web, will be to ensure that we are coordinating our work for maximum mutual benefit.

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on this year’s Global Agenda Council meeting. Please contact me via Twitter @MichaelFertik.

*Michael Fertik is CEO and Founder, Reputation.com.