Trends in Science and Technology Relevant to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)

The IAP Biosecurity Working group will gather world-leading experts to provide independent input on developments in relevant areas of science and technology, to assist the States Parties in preparing for the 8th Biological Weapons Convention (BTWC) Review Conference in December 2016. The Royal Society, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and the Polish Academy of Sciences, current chair of the IAP Biosecurity Working Group, have partnered to lead the effort. The symposium on "Trends in Science and Technology Relevant to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)" will be held on 13-15 September 2015 in Warsaw, Poland, and bring together international researchers in areas of interest for the BTWC with government technical experts who will help analyse the policy implications of recent developments.

The symposium's main sessions will focus on S&T developments since the 7th Review Conference, and then look into potential benefits and risks from these S&T developments and their implications for the BTWC, as well as consider models for bringing S&T into the BTWC.

The output of this symposium will be in the form of short non-technical summaries and a longer technical report to be issued ahead of the December 2015 BTWC Meeting of State Parties in Geneva, Switzerland.