First meeting of the Steering Committee of the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre
First meeting of the Steering Committee of the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre | Author Ministrstvo za zunanje in evropske zadeve
On 15 November 2022, a trilateral Letter of Intent was signed in Podgorica (Montenegro) between the ministries of foreign affairs of Slovenia, France and Montenegro on the establishment of a Western Balkans Regional Cyber Capacity Centre, based at the Science and Technology Park Montenegro at the University of Podgorica.
By participating in the establishment of the Centre, Slovenia is delivering on its commitment to support the European perspective for the Western Balkans and the cooperation between all regional stakeholders in the fight against cyber threats.
The main purpose of the Centre is to train regional experts on cybersecurity, cybercrime, cyber diplomacy and personal data protection (train the trainer model). The Centre will also focus on the exchange of best practice between experts in the region. The first course will be held in the temporary premises of the University of Podgorica in May 2023.
The Centre will strengthen the operational and structural capacities of the countries of the region in the fight against cybercrime, enhance the structures and models for strengthening the cyber resilience of institutions and ensure the protection of information systems' critical infrastructure. At the same time, academic institutions are seeking to introduce cybersecurity training programmes into the curricula of universities in the Western Balkans region. Universities in the region have joined the cooperation, including the universities of Maribor and Nice on the Slovenian and French sides.
In parallel with the Steering Committee meeting, a working meeting of experts from all three WB3C founder countries will take place in Paris. Slovenian experts involved in the design of the programme and future training sessions come from Slovenia's Government Information Security Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior, the Criminal Police Directorate – Computer Investigation Centre, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office, the Slovenian Computer Emergency Response Team SI-CERT and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.