GA’s Special Summit on Technology debates committee topic

By ANAÏS VOSKI, THE GUARDIAN

Delegates vote in the GA’s Special Summit on Technology committee

The Special Summit on Technology committee has commenced with full force during the first session of HNMUN 2015 on Thursday evening. The committee, which is part of the General Assembly, will focus on technology relating to the Internet and health security.

In an exclusive interview given to The Guardian, the United Kingdom delegate expressed strong support over the committee’s Topic A, which is set to be on Internet privacy and Internet security. He says a strong infrastructure for Internet security is needed in order to begin discussion on Topic B, which focuses on health and human security.

“We need the online capacity before we can begin to tackle international issues such as technology in terms of human health,” the UK delegate explains.

“Developing countries are becoming digitalized too, so in the age of the Internet, the issue is more relevant than ever.”

Britain’s push to discuss Internet security of course comes as no surprise in light of recent leaks and revelations relating to GCHQ. What will be interesting to observe is whether the UK’s delegate will be pushing for relatively more or less Internet privacy in this particularly topic.

While indeed the United Kingdom has its own issues, perhaps hearing the Turkish delegate advocate for Internet freedom was rather absurd, given the country’s recent scandals involving blocking Twitter to its citizens, and other cases.

On the other hand, delegates from Africa such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa were heavily pushing for Topic B, and understandably so, given Western Africa’s recent Ebola outbreak and other everyday struggles most Africans face to this day. It is no surprise that delegates from the developing world would like to see how technology could enhance health standards in places where the bare minimums of a comfortable life are too often lacking.

The Guardian, of course, would very much welcome an extensive discussion on Internet security and privacy, given recent events and leaks by Edward Snowden.

If chosen, under Topic A, the committee will include the following:

“In recent years the number of discussions regarding the security of our data has increased in unprecedented fashion. We have seen many countries across the globe implement policies to protect the property of artists, governments and individuals alike. Policies often include surveillance techniques, censorship, and restricted access to websites. But they can come at the cost of individual privacy — sometimes deemed an infringement of one’s civil liberties. This can be justified to combat organizations such as WikiLeaks spreading personal and confidential information, as well as to prevent crime on the internet where it is so difficult to control. International consensus is needed to determine what balance is necessary to protect citizens and enforce domestic and international law, but also to maintain the integrity of the Internet and the privacy of it’s users.”