The international conference “Anticipating technologies – for a safe and humane future” opened today in Geneva under the auspices of the 2026 Swiss OSCE Chairpersonship. The conference focuses on the impact of emerging technologies on security, stability and co-operation across the OSCE area. The initiative brings together representatives of participating States, international organizations, the scientific community and the private sector at CERN and other institutions of “International Geneva”.
Discussions are focusing in particular on the implications of technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other emerging digital technologies for conflict prevention, crisis management, societal resilience and confidence-building among States. The Swiss Chairpersonship has identified “anticipatory governance” of technological developments as one of the priorities of its OSCE mandate, underlining the need for multilateral, inclusive and human-centred approaches to managing ongoing technological transformations.
Italy is represented at the conference by Counsellor of Legation Federica Rita Mazzotta, Head of the Office for “Digital Diplomacy and New Technologies”, established within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation’s new Directorate General for Cyber Issues, Information Technology and Technological Innovation. The establishment of the new Directorate General, envisaged under the recent reform of the Ministry promoted by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani, reflects the growing importance Italy attaches to the challenges posed by technological innovation, cybersecurity and digital governance in the framework of foreign and security policy.
The conference also highlighted the importance of strengthening dialogue among diplomacy, the scientific community and the technology sector, with a view to ensuring that technological progress contributes to co-operative security as well as to the protection of democratic values and fundamental rights across the OSCE area.
