Spiez Convergence
Spiez Convergence is a biennial conference organized since 2014 by the Spiez Laboratory with support from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Federal Department of Defense, Population Protection and Sport (VBS), and the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich. The scientific program of Spiez Convergence 2016 was jointly developed by CSS and Labor Spiez. The conference took place in Spiez from 5–8 September 2016; the director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, held the opening address. Scientists, industry representatives, arms control experts, and political decision-makers discussed the scientific and technological advances in life sciences and their possible far-reaching effects on the Biological Weapons Convention (BWWC) or the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The conference series and report on the second Spiez Convergence were presented at the Eighth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva in November 2016. The next installment of Spiez Convergence will take place in September 2018.