The OSCE today opened its 32nd Economic and Environmental Forum (EEF) in Prague, focusing on how anticipating technological developments and strengthening science-based diplomacy can contribute to security and stability across the OSCE area by helping participating States better prepare for both existing and emerging challenges.
Organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities under the guidance of Switzerland's 2026 OSCE Chairpersonship, the two-day conference brings together representatives of OSCE participating States, Partners for Co-operation, international organizations, academia, the private sector and civil society. Participants are examining how the OSCE can strengthen its ability to anticipate technological developments, assess their implications for security and stability, and better prepare for a rapidly changing economic and environmental landscape.
The discussion follows a Joint Preparatory Meeting of the EEF in Vienna from 7 and 8 September under the same title.
In his address to the EEF participants, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Swiss Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, recalled that "Anticipation is a political necessity. This is why Switzerland has chosen Anticipating technologies as a priority of its Chairpersonship. We must anchor this approach in the OSCE, because technology already affects all three dimensions of the OSCE."
As host of the event, which is taking place at Czernin Palace, Czech Deputy Prime Minister Petr Macinka, opened the EEF: "We must prepare the OSCE for the security challenges of tomorrow," Minister Macinka said in his opening remarks. He stressed that new technologies, including artificial intelligence and quantum technologies, can become major sources of prosperity, innovation and resilience, while also creating new risks and changing the nature of security threats. "If we want to prevent conflicts and misunderstandings, we need to understand the impact of technological change before it catches us by surprise. This is precisely where the OSCE can play an important role," the Czech Foreign Minister added.
"Today, as geopolitical fragmentation is growing, we are also at the dawn of a new technological revolution. The direction this transformation takes will depend on the choices we make - collectively, as governments, as societies and as the international community. No single country, company, or institution can make those choices alone. This is why we need dialogue, co-operation and science-based diplomacy. And this is why our ability to anticipate matters so much," said OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu.
During the opening session, the State Secretary of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Alexandre Fasel, stated that "The OSCE was founded on a comprehensive approach to security. This common ground endures despite our current divisions: the fact that we were able to agree to hold this Forum is a clear demonstration of this."
The Forum offers concrete follow-up to one of Switzerland's priorities for its 2026 Chairpersonship: "anticipating technologies - for a safe and humane future". It builds in particular on the international conference hosted in Geneva on 7and 8 May, which brought together experts from science, technology, diplomacy and policymaking to examine how anticipation can help societies prepare for rapid technological change.
In Prague, participants are discussing how the OSCE can make better use of technological and scientific expertise in decision-making, strengthen anticipatory capacities and preparedness, and develop effective approaches to new technologies, including in relation to economic and environmental issues, in particular water, energy and economic good governance. The focus of this mandated, second dimension conference is part of the Swiss Chairpersonship's broader effort to strengthen the OSCE's ability to act in a changing security environment.
