On February 25th at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) in Zagreb, a Workshop within the Dual Use and Emerging Technologies Project was held. During the opening speech, the Director of RACVIAC, MG (ret.) Jeronim Bazo, took the opportunity to express his appreciation for FER contribution in organizing this one-day Workshop focused on Raising Awareness of the integrity of academic research involving dual-use items. He also emphasized the importance of such Outreach programs aimed at safeguarding the integrity of any dual-use research within academia, with the wider aim to combat contemporary WMD challenges.
Professor Nikola Mišković, Vice Dean for Research, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, expressed his satisfaction with the fact that the Faculty hosted this activity and also his expectations for further cooperation with RACVIAC – Centre for Security Cooperation on similar projects. Prof Mišković emphasized the importance of familiarizing the academic community with EU legislation in accordance with regimes related to Dual-Use items.
Associate Professor Predrag Pale, PhD, from the Department of Electronic Systems and Information Processing, talked about current threats and risks Involving Cyber Security/Data Protection relative to academic research. The list of lecturers included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, Department of Chancellery and Foreign Affairs from Flanders (Belgium), European Commission, the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb and other experts in the Workshop topic related field as well as lecturers from the private sector. At the end of the Workshop, representatives of Kosovo* and Montenegro presented national achievements in the field of Dual-Use.
According to global processes and technological advances, it is necessary for research organisations to have strong incentives to innovate and collaborate internationally as a basis for advancing the research. However, among many genuine and transparent collaborations that aim to develop meaningful scientific and technological advancement, there are offers of collaboration, invitations and informal exchanges with covert motives; for instance, seeking access to research involving dual-use items for other malicious purposes and possibly associated with the proliferation of WMD. The main objectives of this activity were to present Overview of Proliferation and Dual use Technology and to analyse threats and risks related to the protection of academia research.
The workshop gathered more than 40 representatives from 11 countries and representatives of the European Union Commission. The organization of the workshop is a joint project of the Republic of Croatia, Montenegro and Kosovo*.
* This Designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
