The tenth substantive session of the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on the security and the use of ICTs 2021-2025 began this Monday at United Nations Headquarters in New York. A Cuban delegation, headed by Cuba’s First Deputy Minister of Communications, Ernesto Rodríguez Hernández, and also composed of the ETECSA’s Director of Security Operations, Pablo Domínguez Vázquez, and diplomats from the Cuban Mission to the UN, is participating in the event.
Cuba’s First Deputy Minister of Communications, Ernesto Rodríguez Hernández, in his contribution to the debate on existing and potential threats, reiterated that the exclusively peaceful use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) must be established as a global obligation. He stressed that the OEWG had demonstrated its value by achieving concrete results with the agreement of all States, and called for this commitment to be maintained as progress is made towards the adoption of the OEWG's final report in July 2025.
He stressed the importance of the report explicitly reflecting the global commitment to the exclusively peaceful use of ICTs, the prohibition of the militarization of cyberspace and offensive cyber operations, and the rejection of the use of ICTs as a pretext for interventionism and war. He stressed the advisability of creating a common terminology for identifying and responding to cyber incidents.
At the same time, he insisted on the need to reduce the technological gap faced by developing countries. “It is essential that the OEWG’s final report includes commitments to help reduce this gap through the provision of technical assistance, technology transfer and equipment to developing countries”, said Rodriguez Hernandez.
Finally, the Cuban Deputy Minister reiterated the need to adopt a legally binding international instrument that would establish clear obligations for all States to address the threats posed by the use of ICTs in the context of international security. “The most effective way to identify and jointly address cyber threats is to adopt a legally binding international instrument”, concluded Rodríguez Hernández.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations