Attended by over 40 organisations, projects and stakeholders, the day offered participants an unique space to exchange knowledge, share experiences and best practices by engaging in thematic and strategic discussions on strengthening EU’s global cyber capacity building efforts.
Promoting Cybersecurity Technologies
The first roundtable, titled “Promoting a ‘Made in Europe’ Approach” revolved around how the European Union’s Global Gateway strategy and the “Made in Europe” approach can foster competitive digital ecosystems through long-term and trust-based partnerships to support global digital ecosystems. The roundtable concluded with an agreement that the success of global delivery of European technology depends on moving beyond simple technology exports toward integrated partnerships that prioritises European standards and local institutional needs.
European Union Cyber Capacity Building vs External Cyber Capacity Building Approaches
The second discussion under the title “Learning from Each Other” focused on understanding the current impact and friction points in CCB. Participants discussed how European values represent its real operational capacity in a multistakeholder environment. Participants also discussed the EU value proposition along with its brand and uniqueness. While partner countries sometimes default to non-EU solutions, the EU must improve its competitiveness by offering tailored and high-quality solutions that hold the integrity of EU values, thus supporting the EU’s global brand.
Securing Critical Infrastructure in Partner Countries
A third roundtable, based on a scenario discussion, offered an insight to how EU can help partner countries protect critical infrastructure: choosing long-term resilience and strategic governance over short-term savings is essential. It was highlighted how presenting European standards like NIS2 as practical technical requirements along with policymaking is key to securing interconnected regional grids.
CCB in Practice: The experience of ECCC and EU CyberNet
The ECCC demonstrated how they are the key engine for EU’s industrial and research strategy, operating through a structured cycle of strategic agendas, work programmes and vital community feedback. It was emphasised that the Network of National Coordination Centres and the ATLAS platform are central to this ecosystem, acting as gatekeepers to ensuring a trusted and high-quality hub for collaboration. In parallel, the intervention by the EU CyberNet highlighted the value of long-term partnerships rooted in the community of cyber excellence. The conversation concluded that these efforts aim to shift partner nations away from dependency towards regional ownership and mutual trust, as demonstrated by the success of the LAC4 Center and the Dominican Republic.
Speakers included representatives of European External Action Service (EEAS), Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), Directorate-General for Communications, Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT), European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC), EU CyberNet and other CCB implementers.
The event was organised by EU CyberNet together with the European Commission and the European External Action Service, in cooperation with the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC).
