On Oct. 24, the Competence Center Cyber 4.0, represented by Alessandro Calabrese, Training and Advisory Rep, spoke at the “Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Cybersecurity and Secure Connectivity” held in Madrid Oct. 23-25, 2023.
The event, organized by Digital for Development (D4D) Hub was hosted at the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID).
During the event, Cyber 4.0 contributed to the panel discussion “Capacity Building: enhancing cybersecurity and secure connectivity in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC),” highlighting the challenges of Cyber Capacity Building (CCB) in countering cybercrime and reducing the cybersecurity workforce gap.
Cyber 4.0 is engaged in several CCB initiatives as an expert supporting EU-LAC Digital Alliance and EU-CyberNet, and as a Contributing Member of LAC4, collaborating to bridge the skills gap and share best practices between Europe and LAC.
In parallel with the Madrid Forum, Cyber 4.0 was also present at the kick-off workshop of the “Cyber Security & Cybercrime Action Plan”(CCSCAP) in Trinidad and Tobago, led by CARICOM IMPACS and promoted by the EU-LAC Digital Alliance. This project is an important step in building a collaborative cybercrime and cybersecurity strategy in the region.
Cyber 4.0 highlighted the importance of the NIS-2 Directive, and the European regulatory framework more generally, as a model for exporting international cooperation mechanisms, particularly in cyber crisis and incident management, adaptable to the specific needs of the LAC region. NIS-2 offers key applicable principles, such as identification of critical infrastructure, crisis management, and strengthening accountability for strategic infrastructure, elements that could facilitate the identification of a pathway to improve the LAC region’s cyber resilience.
In this context, Cyber 4.0, together with European reference organizations, proposes a “trainthe trainer” training model to support local skills growth, facilitating the creation of a continuous knowledge transfer cycle.
Finally, in line with its national and European institutional mandate, and given its nature as a public-private partnership promoted and co-funded by MIMIT, Cyber 4.0 shared the need to support CCB activities in the LAC region, insisting in particular on the coninvolvement of the private business community.
The objective of this action is not only to strengthen the skills and capacities of local companies, but more importantly to equip the region with infrastructure and technology through the facilitation of trade with European companies and consequently stimulating the growth of the cyber market in the LAC region.