On March 14th and 15th, 2024, DE-CONSPIRATOR hosted its first high-level experts meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. The event brought together senior officials from the European External Action Service and NATO aiming to bridge the gap between scientific and policy approaches to influence operations, focusing on advanced FIMI detection and response protocols.
Objectives of workshop
The goal of this workshop was to bring together policy officials from the EU and NATO, along with experts, researchers and academics working on information warfare, and consortium members in order to discuss the current definitions of FIMI as well as to dig into the evolving landscape of global information manipulation tactics. Through fostering a deep, shared understanding of how FIMI and tactics are conceptualised, we aimed to create a common basis for the future activities of the project. Given how fast the FIMI environment changes, it was crucial to create a common understanding upon which to build the rest of the activities including building automated attribution mechanisms, as well as aiding in the project’s tasks related to psychometric interventions and cross-national surveys on FIMI vulnerability and its key correlates.
The main objectives of the event were:
- To examine case studies and current practices in FIMI across different geopolitical contexts.
- To clarify and refine the conceptual understanding of FIMI and related terms.
- To foster collaboration and develop coherent strategies between the DE-CONSPIRATOR researchers and key FIMI-related EU and US officials and experts.
- To identify needs within the policy domain, prevent research redundancies and align the project’s priorities with the existing mechanisms within the EU and NATO framework
Organisation of workshop
The workshop consisted of two days of face-to-face meetings between policy makers, consortium members and experts, researchers and academics working on the topic. The first day started with an introduction and welcome by the project coordinator, who briefly summarized the aim of the project. After a short introduction of each participant about their expertise, institution and role in the project, EDAM made the necessary logistical announcements and invited EDAM Chairperson Tacan Ildem, Ambassador (R), former NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, to give his welcome remarks. A short coffee break followed.
The workshop was structured around 4 sessions:
- Session 1: Conceptual and Historical Evolution of ‘Information-as-Weapon’
- Session 2: Techniques, Tactics and Procedures (TTPs) – What Constitutes FIMI?
- Session 3: The View from the United States and Canada
- Session 4: Policy Needs on FIMI – How can policy professionals and scientists best link-up on FIMI research?
The workshop was designed for face-to-face discussions, but due to the time constraints of our US participants, Zoom was used to connect them to the “View from the United States and Canada” session. Each session began with a 10-minute problem definition and issue presentation by the project coordinator, followed by an open floor discussion. Notes for all of these discussions were taken by two of our assistants. In order to ensure free discussion, there were no recordings of the sessions. In total, 23 people attended the workshop on March 14th, whereas 20 people attended on March 15th.
Outcomes and conclusions
After two days of deliberation with EEAS and NATO experts, the Consortium agreed on accepting the FIMI framework, the TTPs, as well as the DISARM framework, and the terminology.
The glossary can focus on Russia and China, complementing the EU work, and FIMI repository as a complement to their codebook would be useful for the EU.
It was also pointed out that the literature on societal drivers of FIMI is limited. Operational definition to give a junior researcher to do research, on individual drivers of FIMI and literature review.
While consortium members agreed to adopt the FIMI framework and its terminology, members also acknowledged the importance of exploring concepts related to FIMI that could be significant in understanding how individual or societal factors impact vulnerability.
In summary, the meeting established a crucial foundation for members to align on the project’s initial frameworks and terminologies, as well as to plan and outline the work on conceptual definitions.