GC3B at the Internet Governance Forum

News Article | 12th October 2023

GC3B session at IGF

Chris Painter (GFCE Foundation President), Pua Hunter (ICT Director Cook Islands) and Tereza Horejsova (GFCE Outreach Manager)

Earlier today, the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) held an Open Forum session on the “Global Conference on Cyber Capacity Building (GC3B): Mainstreaming cyber resilience and development agenda” at the esteemed Internet Governance Forum in Kyoto, Japan. The aim of the session was to bring together a variety of stakeholders, from government to civil society and NGOs, active in the field of cyber capacity building (CCB) to exchange on CCB needs and challenges. The IGF is taking place weeks before the GC3B, organized by the GFCE, the Cyber Peace Institute, the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and hosted by the Government of Ghana.

The aim is to catalyze global action on mainstreaming cyber resilience across the international development agenda as a key enabler of sustainable development, economic growth, and social prosperity as well as collect last inputs on the Accra Call, the global agenda on CCB to be presented at the GC3B. To this end, the session strived to connect cyber and development discussions and practitioners more prominently. In this context, the session took into special account the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

  • SDG 4: Quality Education
  • SDG 5: Gender Equality
  • SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
  • SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  • SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

The session was organised in true hybrid fashion with a mix of speakers online and onsite, treated equally with similar level of exposure. The online participants were assisted by a dedicated and experienced chat moderator, Allan Cabanlong (GFCE Director for the Southeast Regional Hub) who encouraged discussion in the chat and helped provide inputs to the session itself. Key discussions were held through a round table discussion of 60 minutes, under the theme of “Cybersecurity, Cybercrime and Online Safety”, discussing key topics of cyberattacks, cyberconflicts and international security.

The GC3B warmly thanks the following moderators and speakers for their contributions:

Moderators

  • Rapporteur and onsite moderator: Tereza Horejsova (GFCE Outreach Manager)
  • Online moderator: Allan Cabanlong (GFCE Southeast Asia Regional Hub Director)

Speakers

  • Chris Painter (President of the GFCE Foundation)
  • Liesyl Franz (United States Department of State, Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy)
  • Pua Hunter (ICT Director Cook Islands)

The Global Conference on Cyber Capacity Building warmly thanks the Internet Governance Forum for the opportunity to contribute to its program, as well as all moderators, speakers and participants for their active engagement in this critical conversation on public policy issues related to cyberspace.