The IAEA holds a Symposium on International Safeguards every four years in order to engage the broader safeguards community in addressing challenges and seizing opportunities to strengthen the effectiveness of safeguards implementation.

The 2018 symposium’s theme is ‘Building Future Safeguards Capabilities’, and will look ahead to emerging technologies and innovative approaches with potential for strengthening and streamlining the implementation of safeguards and explore  partnerships and mechanisms of relevance going forward.

The objectives of the symposium are to:

• Innovate – by generating new ideas on methods and technologies to substantially improve the IAEA’s technical capabilities and achieve efficiencies in the way it works
• Partner – by mobilizing partnerships to further explore new ideas, bring innovation into the work of the Department of Safeguards, and support long term safeguards research and development needs; and
• Improve – by engaging the safeguards community in sharing experiences, building capabilities, and finding ways to streamline, simplify and improve the implementation of safeguards in the field and at headquarters.