A/72/327 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 70/237 of 23 December 2015, on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General, with the assistance of a group of governmental experts, to be established in 2016 on the basis of equitable geographical distribution, taking into account the assessments and recommendations contained in the above-mentioned report, to continue to study, with a view to promoting common understandings, existing and potential threats in the sphere of information security and possible cooperative measures to address them and how international law applies to the use of information and communic ations technologies by States, as well as norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviour of States, confidence-building measures and capacity-building and the concepts referred to in paragraph 3 above, and to submit a report on the results of the stu dy to the General Assembly at its seventy-second session. II. Organizational matters 2. In accordance with the terms of the resolution, the Secretary -General appointed a group of governmental experts from 25 States: Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Serbia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. The list of experts is contained in the annex to the present report. 3. The Group of Governmental Experts met in four formal sessions, the first from 29 August to 2 September 2016 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, the second from 28 November to 2 December 2016 at the United Nations Office at Geneva, the third from 20 to 24 February 2017 at the United Nations Office at Geneva and the fourth from 19 to 23 June 2017 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. At its first session, the Group unanimously elected Karsten Geier of Germany as its Chairman. 4. The Information and Outreach Branch of the Office for Disarmament Affairs served as the secretariat to the Group. The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research served as the consultant to the Group. 5. In accordance with its mandate, as contained in resolution 70/237, the Group had a comprehensive, in-depth exchange of views on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security. Furthermore, the Group took into account the reports of previous Groups of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security as well as contributions and proposals made available by members of the Group. Several draft substantive reports were considered by the Group, including on the last day of the final formal meeting, on the following issues: existing and emerging threats; capacity-building; confidence-building; recommendations on the implementation of norms, rules and principles for the responsible behaviour of States; application of international law to the use of information and communications technologies; and conclusions and recommendations for future work. No consensus was reached on a final report. 2/5 17-13985