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At Cyber 4.0 Annual Conference: Discussing the Future of EU’s External Cyber Capacity Building

EU CyberNet Director Liina Areng took part in a panel discussion on capacity building at the annual conference of Cyber 4.0 – Cybersecurity Competence Centre of Italy, titled “Strategies and cooperation in cyberspace: building capacities for a secure digital society.” The panel focused on the future of EU’s external cyber capacity building.

Drawing on EU CyberNet’s expertise from almost six years of supporting EU’s global cyber capacity building actions, Liina Areng reflected on the key results and lessons learned from the project’s first implementation phase – particularly in Latin America through the launch and development of LAC4 Centre in Santo Domingo. “EU CyberNet has helped to put the EU on the map as a serious actor in cyber capacity building, especially in LAC region. What started as a modest initiative is now something that has professionalised EU’s external cyber capacity building and helped EU to become more proactive and strategic in the long run.”

She also emphasised the importance of moving towards locally led and co-created cyber capacity building approaches that foster ownership, trust and sustainability. “What we’ve understood very clearly is that our partner countries don’t just want another training. Instead, they require support that is tailor-made, fits their needs and respects their realities,” she said. “EU CyberNet’s first phase has laid solid foundation and proved that cyber capacity building can be done based on smart and strategic decisions, and based on democratic values and trust. We look forward to building the second phase of EU CyberNet on this success story, and scale up and expand. Inherently, capacity building is about building trust, communities and sharing experiences instead of ready-made solutions.”



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