CDH cohosts UNESCO consultation on neurotechnology ethics

The consultation meeting, which took place over Zoom, was made possible by CDH professor Marcello Ienca, who is the head of the ERA-NET funded Intelligent Systems Ethics research group at CDH, as well a professor at the Technical University of Munich. He is also a member of the Ad-Hoc group (AHEG) who elaborated the first draft of the UNESCO recommendation.

During this consultation, 32 participants from 10 western Europeans countries representating national commissions, governmental agencies, experts, and various stakeholders in civil society had the opportunity to provide input to the text and discuss crucial policy issues on the various sections of the draft recommendation including: the definition and scope of neurotechnologies; values and principles; areas of policy actions; and implementation.

The first draft of the recommendation aims to guide the ethical development and use of neurotechnology to benefit humanity and prevent harm, emphasizing global and intercultural dialogue. It seeks to embed ethics in all stages of neurotechnology through universal values and principles, protecting human rights, fostering multi-stakeholder dialogue, and promoting equitable access and benefit-sharing. It highlights the unique ethical challenges of neurotechnology, including issues of personal identity, agency, data privacy, potential biases, and unequal access. The human-centred approach embraces fundamental ethical principles, emphasizing collective human interaction and community belonging. It also addresses the risks of neurotechnology at individual and societal levels, advocating for responsible innovation to prevent misconduct and mitigate global resource consumption and waste.

The Ad-Hoc Group will now review carefully the inputs gathered and reconvene in Paris in the last week of August to incorporate them into the draft recommendation. The final text of the recommendation will be presented for adoption in November 2025 at the 43^rd session of the UNESCO General Conference.

“We at CDH consider the recommendation as highly relevant and timely in the current context, where science and policy in technological innovation must be aligned with ethical and societal values to foster human rights,” says CDH Deputy Director Gabriela Tejada, who represented CDH as well as the Swiss Commission for UNESCO in her role as Vice-President at this session. “While technological breakthroughs are offering incredible opportunities, indeed the stakes are too high. At the CDH, it is in our mission to discuss the challenges and potential impacts of new technologies from an interdisciplinary perspective, with students, researchers, decision makers, and society at large and it was a privilege to partner with the Swiss Commission for UNESCO with this purpose.”