In October 2023, EU CyberNet has launched the 2^nd edition of the Operational Guidance for EU’s international cooperation on cyber capacity building.

The Operational Guidance is designed to primarily support the EU’s core cyber capacity building objectives in the areas of cyber resilience, cybercrime, cyber diplomacy, and/or any other cyber-specific issue.

What’s new in this second edition, is a revised content and tools to:

• Assist in designing appropriate, context-specific project actions or initiatives for cyber capacity building in partner countries and regions, drawing from development best practices and lessons learnt.
• Offer guidance on the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of such actions.
• Serve as the baseline material for training courses on cyber capacity building organised by the EU.

The document provides a practical framework for designing and implementing the EU’s external actions in five main policy pillars:

• National strategic cyber framework
• Cyber crisis prevention and management
• Criminal justice in cyberspace
• Cybersecurity education and culture
• Cyber diplomacy

With the evolution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), there is a growing requirement to synthesise insights and formulate systematic approaches that integrate diverse aspects of cyber policy with principles of collaboration, and this is what this new document is mainly emphasising.

Based on this OG the EUCN is carrying out an EU external cyber capacity building training for the EU Delegations in various regions across the World.

The report was written by Nayia Barmpaliou and Patryk Pawlak, EU CyberNet experts, and implemented by EU CyberNet at the commission and under the supervision of the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, Unit FPI.1 “Stability and Peace – Global and Transregional Threats and Challenges”, and in cooperation with DG INTPA, DG NEAR, and EEAS.

Read more about the Operational Guidance, 2^nd edition here.