Conference: Anticipating technologies – for a safe and humane future
The OSCE conference, organised by Switzerland in Geneva, focused on how scientific and technological advances are transforming security and cooperation in Europe. It looked in particular at anticipating emerging technologies and their potential in ensuring a secure and humane future. It brought together OSCE participating States and partners to strengthen security and cooperation.
Technological progress is reshaping the foundations of our security at an unprecedented pace. From artificial intelligence to quantum technologies, new capabilities can strengthen resilience and prosperity – but they can also amplify risks, deepen divisions and shift balances of power. At a time of growing geopolitical tensions, ensuring that technological change contributes to stability rather than insecurity is a shared responsibility.
Switzerland has long advocated an approach that combines anticipation with action. Under its leadership, the United Nations Security Council recognised for the first time the link between scientific developments and international peace and security. Anticipating technologies remains a priority of the Swiss Chairpersonship of the OSCE, recognising that trust and transparency in this domain are essential for cooperative security.
The conference “Anticipating technologies — for a safe and humane future” brought this effort to Geneva, a global hub where science, diplomacy and multilateral cooperation converge, and home to initiatives such as the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), which exemplify the value of anticipatory science diplomacy. The conference provideded a platform for participating States and Partners for Co-operation to assess together how emerging technologies affect security across the OSCE region — from risk prevention and confidence-building to the protection of open and resilient societies — and how anticipation can enable to respond with foresight.
In a rapidly evolving technological landscape, strengthening dialogue, reducing misunderstandings and building common approaches are indispensable to build trust and lay the foundations for security — in the spirit of dialogue, trust, security — thereby safeguarding peace and cooperation.
Innovations in science and technology are reshaping the way we live, work and cooperate at an unprecedented pace. Advances in quantum computing, artificial intelligence and neurotechnology are opening new horizons – they are also creating both opportunities and challenges for security and cooperation in the OSCE region. These developments underscore the need for an anticipatory and integrated approach.
The principles enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act underscore the importance of scientific and technological co-operation as a driver of security and collaboration. Participating States affirmed their conviction that such co-operation plays a vital role in addressing shared challenges and improving the conditions of human life.
The 2026 conference on “Anticipating technologies – for a safe and humane future” addressed this ambition by promoting human-centred governance, linking technology and diplomacy. The conference provided a framework for exchanging ideas on the opportunities and challenges facing the OSCE in the areas of science, diplomacy, business and philanthropy.
The conference was organised in an integrated format, combining substantive discussions and working sessions at CERN and the ICRC. As a unique and historic example of science diplomacy – embodying both diplomacy for science and science for diplomacy — CERN illustrates how scientific cooperation can build trust. In this spirit, the conference seeked to ensure that science and technology remain firmly anchored in the multilateral agenda as instruments of cooperation rather than sources of division.
The conference was structured around four sessions over one and a half days:
- Anticipating emerging technology and its implications for peace and security – the example of quantum computing
- Anticipating water and energy security in the digital age
- Artificial intelligence and conflict prevention
- Anticipating technology in practice – for a safe and humane future
Each session provided a space to exchange insights, confront challenges and share practical experience. By bringing together participating States and Partners for Co-operation, the conference aimed to inspire joint efforts to harness technological change responsibly and to strengthen security, trust and cooperation across the OSCE region.
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