Lessons from the 2018 Symposium on International Safeguards

摘要

The Department of Safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency organizes a Symposium on International Safeguards every four years. The most recent, held 5-8 November 2018 in Vienna, Austria, was titled, "Building Future Safeguards Capabilities," and sought to achieve three complementary objectives: 1) seek innovative solutions to safeguards challenges; 2) strengthen existing and develop new partnerships; and 3) improve the day to day work of safeguards implementation. These objectives were derived from the Departmental strategic planning process, particularly the strategic objectives relating to stakeholder engagement, partnerships and making better use of technology. Another inspiration for the Symposium was the Emerging Technologies Workshop held in February of 2017 and the insights gained through those discussions. The paper will describe the Symposium objectives and their basis in more detail, including the process to determine departmental priorities and to solicit and obtain contributions from a geographically diverse and gender-balanced audience. Over the course of four days, the more than 800 Symposium participants attended and discussed nearly 400 papers and posters organized into four thematic areas: 1) addressing safeguards challenges; 2) innovative technologies; 3) new facilities and designs; and 4) safeguards implementation. This paper will share the lessons learned by the core team in the organization of a large Symposium that sought to maximize interaction among participants and to deliver results.