Capacity building and development --- Ivan, colleagues, this brings us to the connection of cybersecurity with development. Indeed, most renown cybersecurity programmes came from the West, and were rather unavailable for professionals from developing countries - both physically, and financially.

Several factors contribute to the change with this. Moving online (esp. during Covid) made much of this knowledge accessible remotely. Since cybersecurity is increasingly interesting and important, there is a hyperproduction of materials, and much of this is becoming available also for free in various MOOCs and self-paced courses, knowledge repositories, etc. Also, Western countries recognise that cyberspace won't be stable for them if it is not stable elsewhere - since attacks can come from just anywhere - and they are eager more and more to invest in capacity building in other regions.

Cyber capacity building is not present on the international negotiations agenda as well. Take a look at the framework of responsible behaviour in cyberspace that we discussed last week - both OEWG and GGE have strong emphasis on capacity building, and assistance to developing countries. In practice, one can find funding support for programmes - especially in Africa and Asia, somewhat less still, however, in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Do we have space to be optimists that the knowledge will be more evenly distributed (though big players will of course continue to dominate)? And, does this capacity building support come with any political cost related to cybersecurity?

Source author: Vladimir Radunovic vladar@diplomacy.edu