SCO member states’ joint efforts in international information security discussed in Moscow

The National Forum for Information Security, Infoforum 2017, was held in Moscow on 2-3 February 2017. It is a key annual event in the field of information security in the Russian Federation, devoted to the strategic priorities of the state policy in this area. An SCO Secretariat delegation took part in the Forum's work at Russia's invitation.

Current issues of ensuring information security on the national and global scale were thoroughly discussed as part of 10 thematic sessions, events and more than 100 speeches, presentations and reports.

During the first thematic session, which was devoted to international information security (IIS) cooperation within the SCO, BRICS, the UN and other international and regional organisations, the SCO Secretariat delegation reported on joint efforts of the SCO member states in ensuring the IIS in its region of responsibility.

It was highlighted that one of the SCO's most important IIS achievements was drafting the Agreement Between the Governments of the SCO Member States on International Information Security Cooperation, which was signed on 16 June 2009 by the governments of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. This document became the foundation for the SCO's operation and today the Organisation's member states are guided by the Agreement's provisions in their continuous efforts to coordinate information policy and deepen practical cooperation.

The Forum participants were also presented with information on the SCO member states' coordination of their approaches to the IIS in the UN, as well as on close cooperation in developing comprehensive rules, principles and standards for countries' responsible behaviour in information space as part of this global organisation. It was highlighted that the distribution of an updated version of the Code of Conduct for Information Security as an official document of the UN General Assembly on behalf of the SCO member states was a practical achievement of such cooperation.