There are laws and regulations in place to deal with the threats that your institution must comply with. For example, within the European Union, strict rules apply to the export of dual-use products and technology that have military applications (dual use) in addition to civilian ones. It involves all forms of transmission, including via e-mail or a cloud service. Purely basic scientific research and technology already in the public domain are excluded from export control. If you are unsure whether the export rules apply, you can call on competent existing export control services (mainly regional) in our country .
In addition, international sanctions regimes are in place against countries, organisations and individuals. The current overview can be found at www.sanctionsmap.eu . The sanctions against e.g. North Korea and Iran are particularly relevant for knowledge institutions: they form the basis for the enhanced supervision that applies to a limited number of subject areas.
Some countries (including Belgium) are working on measures to further enhance the action perspective of knowledge institutions and public authorities. For example, in the Netherlands, they are working on a testing framework that provides for a targeted screening of persons who want access to areas of knowledge with a high risk to national security, and on a special draft law on foreign investments, mergers and acquisitions. The law focuses on vital providers and organizations that have sensitive technology.
There are several codes of conduct on research security. These are non-binding, but guiding. For example, there is the UNL research security framework (www.universiteitenvannederland.nl ) and there are the European Commission's EU guidelines on tackling R&I foreign interference . In the meantime, several countries have developed similar codes of conduct. These make it easier to have a conversation about research security with foreign partners. The focus is on cooperation with external partners, in a European.
In Belgium we are working on a coordinated supportive framework for Research Security. Different levels of science policy are in dialogue (federal, regions, communities) as well as with relevant departments such as justice (e.g. state security), foreign affairs, home affairs, economic affairs.
