The Innovations Dialogue 2025 (#ID25) will provide a timely platform to explore the international peace and security considerations surrounding the development, deployment, and potential militarization of neurotechnologies – as well as how this could impact the future of warfare.
Launched in 2019 and organized by UNIDIR’s Security and Technology Programme, the Innovations Dialogue is one of UNIDIR’s annual flagship events. It serves as a unique multi-stakeholder forum for examining developments in science and technology that have significant implications for international peace and security.
While neurotechnologies remain an emerging set of technologies, they are rapidly advancing and gaining prominence. These technologies have a clear dual-use nature. Outside civilian applications, military research labs are actively exploring ways to enhance soldiers’ cognitive, sensory and physical capabilities, including through direct brain-machine interfacing with uncrewed systems. Their potential military use raises significant security concerns and could profoundly alter the conduct of warfare, raising complex disarmament, ethical and legal challenges.
This year’s Innovations Dialogue will build on existing international efforts and provide a neutral space where this topic will be addressed through the lens of arms control, disarmament and international security. The event will bring together diverse voices from governments, the scientific and technical community, civil society, and international organizations, to examine the current state of neurotechnologies, consider associated risks and opportunities for international peace and security, and explore pathways toward responsible governance.
Poster exhibition
This year’s Innovations Dialogue will feature a poster exhibition focused on “Promoting responsible neurotechnology in the military domain”. Posters will be showcased in a dedicated exhibition space outside the conference room and provide participants with a platform to exchange their research and ideas.
Programme
8:30 – 9:00 Registration and welcome coffee
9:00 – 9:15 Opening remarks
- Dr Robin Geiss, Director, UNIDIR
9:15 – 9:40 Keynote address – Issue framing: Neurotechnology in the context of International Security
- Dr Nita Farahany, Robinson O. Everett Distinguished Professor of Law and Philosophy, Duke University, Duke University
9:40 – 11:15 Panel 1 – Neurotechnologies: What are they? Opportunities, current state of the art, challenges and future developments
9:40 – 10:20 Part 1: Lightning talks
- Dr Hervé Chneiweiss,Neuroscientist and Neurologist; Director, Neuroscience – Paris Seine – IBPS Laboratory ICNRS INSERM Sorbonne University; former Chairperson, UNESCO International Bioethics Committee
- Dr Caterina Cinel, Senior Lecturer in Brain Science and Neural Engineering, Director, Essex BCI and Neural Engineering Laboratory, University of Essex
10:20 – 10:50 Part 2: BCI drone demonstration
- Dr Nataliya Kosmyna, Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab, Visiting Research Faculty, Google.
Dr Kosmyna will provide a short demonstration of a drone flight controlled through a brain-computer interface
10:50 – 11:15 Part 3: A discussion and question and answers
- Dr Sara Berger, IMB Director, Notre Dame – IBM Tech Ethics Lab, IBM Research
11:15 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 12:30 Panel 2 – What are the risks of neurotechnology?
- Dr Damian Eke, Assistant Professor in Ethics of Emerging Technologies, University of Nottingham, Founder, African Brain Data Network
- Milena Costas Trascasas, Member of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, Rapporteur on Neurotechnologies and Human Rights
- Dr Ricardo Chavarriaga, Group Lead, Responsible AI Innovation, Zurich University of Applied Sciences
- Dr Virginia Mahieu, Director of Neurotechnology, Center for Future Generations
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break
13:30 – 16:15 Panel 3 – Neurotechnology in the military domain, what are the implications?
13:30 – 14:45 Part 1: Current uses and future trends
- Dr Margaret Kosal, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Tech
- Dr Łukasz Kamieński, Full Professor, Faculty of International and Political Studies, Jagiellonian University, Krakow
- Dr Johan de Heer, Director of Research, Technology and Innovation, Brain-Computer Interfaces Lead, Thales Group
14:45– 15:00 Coffee break
15:00 – 16:15 Part 2: Implications and risks
- Dr Noam Lubell, Professor of International Law of Armed Conflict, School of Law, University of Essex
- Dr Sana Zakaria, Senior Research Leader, Science and Emerging Technology, RAND Europe
- Dr Yasmin Afina, Researcher, Security and Technology Programme, UNIDIR
16:15 – 17:30 Panel 4 – Towards the governance of neurotechnology
The composition of this panel will be communicated in due course
17:30 – 17:40 Closing remarks
17:40 – 19:00 Reception
When and where
Monday, 24 November 2025, 9:00-17:40 CET, Centre International de Conférences Genève (CICG), Geneva, Switzerland and online.
A post-conference reception will be hosted for participants attending in person.
If attending online, please consult this website to find your local time.
Participation
Participation is open to representatives of Member State delegations, as well as experts from academia, civil society, industry, and international organizations.
RSVP
You are kindly requested to register for the Innovations Dialogue and specify if you will be attending in person or connecting remotely. Registered participants will receive by email the link to join online one day prior to the event.
Further information
For further information, please contact sectec-unidir@un.org.