[Webinar] International humanitarian law and digital technology: critical reflections

On 8 June, the Asser Institute and the International Review of the Red Cross will host a webinar celebrating the common launch of the Asser Institute’s Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law (YIHL) Vol. 2018 This link opens in a new tab (published in 2020) and the International Review of the Red Cross (IRRC) Vol. 102, Issue 913 This link opens in a new tab (published in 2021). Vol. 2018 of the YIHL is devoted to the humanitarian and legal challenges surrounding weapons and new military technologies and the latest edition of the IRRC addresses ‘Digital Technologies and War’. This event, co-hosted by the Hague Initiative for Law and Armed Conflict (HILAC) This link opens in a new tab, the International Humanitarian and Criminal Law (IHCL) Platform This link opens in a new tab and the Designing International Law and Ethics into Military Artificial Intelligence (DILEMA) project, will address two different dimensions of international humanitarian law and digital technology; one focusing on the kinetic/military dimension, and one looking at the humanitarian/protection dimension. The first presentation (‘The law of armed conflict issues created by programming automatic target recognition systems using deep learning methods’) will be given by one of the authors who contributed to the YIHL: Dr Joshua G. Hughes, research analyst at ‎Trilateral Research. The second presentation (‘Tech and armed conflict: the spread of harmful information in humanitarian settings’) will be provided by Ms Delphine van Solinge, who is the ICRC’s protection advisor on digital risks for populations in armed conflict and who was interviewed in the IRRC.

Programme

Words of welcome: 

• Dr Christophe Paulussen This link opens in a new tab (senior researcher Asser Institute, member board of advisors to the editorial board of the YIHL and coordinator IHCL Platform)
• Mr Bruno Demeyere This link opens in a new tab (editor-in-chief-IRRC

Presentations:

• Dr Joshua G. Hughes This link opens in a new tab (research analyst at Trilateral Research): ‘The law of armed conflict issues created by programming automatic target recognition systems using deep learning methods’
• Ms Delphine van Solinge This link opens in a new tab (ICRC protection advisor on digital risks for populations in armed conflict): ‘Tech and armed conflict: the spread of harmful information in humanitarian settings’

Moderation

• Dr Rebecca Mignot-Mahdavi This link opens in a new tab (researcher Asser Institute, managing editor YIHL and HILAC coordinator for Asser)

Audience Q&A

Final word from the publisher of T.M.C. Asser Press Mr Frank Bakker This link opens in a new tab