How do you think about the relationship between technical and policy work in the biosecurity space?
(More detailed sub-questions if useful: Do you think one is more pressing/promising/neglected than the other? How do they interact? Do you think the interaction between technology and policy in biosecurity differs from other WMD threats, and if so how?)
They are inextricably linked. The 2021 Global Health Security Index – a project led by NTI in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security – found that 94% of countries have no national level oversight measures for dual use research, no agency responsible for the oversight, and no evidence of national assessments of dual use research. Additionally, there is no international entity that has dedicated, as its top priority, efforts to strengthen biosecurity and bioscience governance and to reduce emerging biological risks associated with technology advances. While the development of risk-reducing technologies is critical, to ensure these tools are applied and that actors are held accountable for reducing risk, we must also make progress on the policy front.
NTI’s efforts to design and launch the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS) recognize the need to focus on both aspects of biosecurity, which is clear in the mission: IBBIS works collaboratively to strengthen global biosecurity norms and develop innovative tools to uphold them. We undertake this work to safeguard science and reduce the risk of catastrophic events that could result from deliberate abuse or accidental misuse of bioscience and biotechnology.
How do you think about the relationship between technical and policy work in the biosecurity space?
(More detailed sub-questions if useful: Do you think one is more pressing/promising/neglected than the other? How do they interact? Do you think the interaction between technology and policy in biosecurity differs from other WMD threats, and if so how?)
They are inextricably linked. The 2021 Global Health Security Index – a project led by NTI in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security – found that 94% of countries have no national level oversight measures for dual use research, no agency responsible for the oversight, and no evidence of national assessments of dual use research. Additionally, there is no international entity that has dedicated, as its top priority, efforts to strengthen biosecurity and bioscience governance and to reduce emerging biological risks associated with technology advances. While the development of risk-reducing technologies is critical, to ensure these tools are applied and that actors are held accountable for reducing risk, we must also make progress on the policy front.
NTI’s efforts to design and launch the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS) recognize the need to focus on both aspects of biosecurity, which is clear in the mission: IBBIS works collaboratively to strengthen global biosecurity norms and develop innovative tools to uphold them. We undertake this work to safeguard science and reduce the risk of catastrophic events that could result from deliberate abuse or accidental misuse of bioscience and biotechnology.