GFCE Annual Conference - Washington: Phil Sheriff

The Annual Global Forum on Cyber Expertise meeting was held at the Organization of American States headquarters building, impressively located next to the Washington Monument. The event welcomed global participants from senior policy makers through to technical experts. In between the keynote addresses and workshops, researchers from Royal Holloway’s CDT in Cyber Security and  Oxford University’s Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre were invited to discuss impact evaluation in cybersecurity capacity building.


Cybersecurity capacity building aims to help to improve cyber security maturity, and the UK and likeminded nations regard it as paramount. At a time of heightened geopolitical tension, the focus remains on undermining the ability of adversaries to gain advantage through cyber means, as well as impeding the ability of cyber criminals to pursue nefarious goals. The aim is to reduce the cost of such attacks on the UK and partners.

Impact evaluation in cybersecurity capacity building is a topic of considerable relevance to the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE). The latter manages the Cybil Portal, which is described as “the only online repository for international cyber capacity building projects”. The Forum coordinates a clearing house mechanism, which aims to improve efficiency of cybersecurity capacity building by identifying blind spots and duplication. Managing a comprehensive research agenda, impact is championed in the GFCE’s working groups.



Understanding and measuring impact are key topics in cybersecurity capacity building not just for governments and multilateral organisations, but for a range of different groups and organisations involved in capacity building programs. In addition to the presentation of research, Royal Holloway and Oxford University researchers were invited to participate in a formal presentation and discussion on the implications of impact evaluation on and for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). Resourcing, data gathering and generating tangible impact are, for CSOs, exacerbated in comparison to better resourced governments. There were interview opportunities with relevant stakeholders throughout the event and this being a Washington-based event, it was perfectly possible to listen to officials from the US State Department and World Bank articulate their policy-relevant challenges.

The timing of the conference was politically interesting, as the US waits nervously for presidential elections. The psychodrama associated with Harris and Trump was potent throughout. The formal reception was located close to the White House, and it is interesting to think about how this field, as with so many others, might be influenced by that November result. Whatever happens next month, this conference proved highly instructive and showcased for me the value of both the formal workshops and lectures alongside the more informal networking opportunities which have proven so vital for this PhD project on evaluating cyber-security capacity building.

Comments

  1. EracampsNovember 13, 2024 at 3:53 AM

    Your spiritual journey will be stress-free and unforgettable if you book Kumbh Mela camping with Era camping, which guarantees comfort, security, and convenience!Kumbh Mela Camps booking

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remote working and Cyber Security: Georgia Crossland and Amy Ertan

Introducing the project The shift to remote working represents a huge shift for employees and organisations alike, introducing significant implications for cyber security. Amy Ertan and Georgia Crossland are currently working on a research project, in collaboration with the Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security (RISCS) and funded by the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), on the impact of remote working on cyber security and wellbeing. This blog post will give an overview of a section of this project, how remote working impacts cyber security. In response to COVID-19, in March 2020, organisations across the world made the rapid shift away from physical office working to remote working, wherever possible. This shift has had a significant impact across many aspects of organisations. This blog post will offer a high-level overview of how the cyber threat landscape was impacted for many organisations and may further change organisational cyber resilience. Remote workin...
Read more

New Publication: Remote Working and (In)Security?: Amy Ertan

Image
A recent research report by CDT researchers Amy Ertan and Georgia Crossland has been published with the Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security (RISCS). The report examines ‘The Impact of Pandemic-Driven Remote Working on Employee Wellbeing, the Psychological Contract and Cyber Security’, with research carried out through a series of interviews with senior cyber security colleagues between January and April 2021. The full report can be found on the RISCS website: New publication: Remote Working and (In)Security | RISCS. Context In the UK and around the world, the impact of COVID-19 represented a total shift away from what was considered ‘normal living’. One aspect of this change was the rapid transition to remote working as people were encouraged to work from home and limit contact with others as far as possible through repeated lockdown conditions. Fellow CDT colleague Georgia Crossland and I were curious to explore how remote working has impacted the experiences - and se...
Read more

The Artificial Intelligence Monster: Nicola Bates

Image
Christopher Booker in 2004 wrote of the seven basic plots to any story, one of these being ‘overcoming the monster’. Within Hollywood, such ‘monsters’ often reflects the zeitgeist balancing commercial requirements with the political and societal preoccupations of the age. The monster evolves over time - from Russia in the Cold War years through to lone actors and terrorists and now to seemingly shadowy figures controlling intelligence. Whilst generally lighter in tone, such monsters also exist within children’s cinema. In recent years this monster has become increasingly defined by their use of highly sophisticated technology, finally becoming the technology in ‘The Mitchells vs. the Machine’*. Lethal technology and subversive machines aren’t new concepts in children’s movies. They can, for example, be found in ‘Short Circuit’ back in 1986. This movie begins with five United States military robots in a training exercise against tanks and focusses upon one of the robots becoming ‘alive’...
Read more