The Symposium: At the Intersection of Humanitarian Action and Cyberspace

What do data transmission protocols at the network layer of the internet have to do with providing food and water to people affected by armed conflict? More than one might initially assume. These protocols are the backbone of digital communication, enabling us to send and receive messages and data across a complex and global system of networks that makes up the internet. Just like a navigation system would guide a vehicle through the road network to its destination, data transmission protocols guide or “route” data packets through a network of physical cables and nodes. The network layer of the internet is, therefore, an essential component of the digital transformation of humanitarian action, enabling everything from the real-time tracking of supply chains bringing food and water to crisis-affected areas to reliable access to lifesaving information for people affected by armed conflict and the collection, sharing, and treatment of personal data to deliver humanitarian services.

The digital transformation of the humanitarian sector – including the reliance on the internet and its network layer for communication – has profoundly revolutionized how organizations communicate, coordinate, and respond to crises. However, this transformation is not without its challenges. For instance, to be truly effective, the network layer of the internet and its protocols need to respond to the unique challenges of humanitarian contexts, such as operating in low-bandwidth or disrupted environments and ensuring data can be transmitted safely and securely while being protected from external surveillance and tampering – two challenges that, as we will discuss later, the current systems are arguably not sufficiently equipped to deal with. 

The humanitarian sector can’t solve these highly complex technical challenges alone. It requires cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary dialogue and cooperation with representatives from all relevant sectors. This is why, in 2022, the ICRC’s Delegation for Cyberspace launched a Symposium on Cybersecurity and Data Protection in Humanitarian Action with precisely this goal in mind: to bring experts from various sectors to the table to discuss issues at the intersection of cybersecurity, data protection and humanitarian action openly and freely under Chatham House Rule. After the success of the first edition in November 2022, a second edition of the Symposium was held from January 23 to 25, 2024, in Luxembourg, convening nearly 250 experts representing humanitarian organizations, governments, cybersecurity agencies, data protection authorities, tech companies, civil society, and academia from over 30 countries. 

Building on the format and insights gathered from the first edition, the participants joined sixteen working sessions split into four thematic tracks to discuss concrete challenges – including a working session to discuss how the fundamental humanitarian principles apply to the network layer of the internet. The discussion points and key takeaways from all sixteen working groups have been compiled and summarized in the recently published “Post-Symposium Report.” Here, let’s return to the example above and look at the working group discussing the challenges of neutral, impartial, and independent humanitarian action at the network layer.

Participants in the working group identified two main risks to fundamental principles at the internet network layer: security and availability. The network layer, especially the Border Gateway Protocol, was not originally designed with security in mind, making data potentially vulnerable to risks such as exposure, interception, and manipulation. These risks are particularly concerning for organizations that collect and process personal and sensitive information of affected people, such as healthcare data of migrants and forcibly displaced people or information related to imprisonment or to the search for missing persons. Second, the network layer’s routing protocols could restrict availability, especially in areas with vulnerable infrastructure or disruptions such as internet shutdowns, natural disasters, or conflict.

To address these issues, participants proposed two conceptually straightforward but technically complex solutions: increasing the visibility of the global network by developing tools to map internet infrastructure and traffic; and enabling organizations to independently select reliable and secure paths for humanitarian data by exploring options like “peering” or new decentralized routing protocols. However, experts noted that the humanitarian sector still faces challenges in bridging the gap in expertise and resources needed to tackle these complex issues.

So where to go from here? The ICRC has committed itself to accelerating its digital transformation, as per its Institutional Strategy, in line with the Movement’s fundamental principles. In 2022, the ICRC opened its Delegation for Cyberspace and Global Cyber Hub, which serves as a research and development hub on technical, legal, and policy issues surrounding the digitalization of humanitarian action. Among many other projects, the Delegation has started exploring ways to better understand internet traffic and the benefits of intentional routing for an impartial, neutral, and independent organization like the ICRC.