The National Institute for Research & Development in Informatics (ICI Bucharest) had the privilege of organising, under the aegis of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC), the ‘Cyber Diplomacy – Tool for Strategic Security Policy’ pilot course.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the course was held completely online between 10 and 12th November 2020. Some participants commented: “The course met my expectations despite the fact of the Covid-19 situation”, “The organiation of this course, in the actual context, was at a very high level in my opinion”.
This first module gave an insight into the external relations domain of the EU as well as into the global cyber ecosystem, allowing participants to become acquainted with related cyber diplomacy topics. The panels addressed current issues of interest in relation to cyber diplomacy, such as: political implications; emerging new threats; international law, norms, rules, principles; cybercrime; cyber defence; hybrid threats; disinformation; cyber influence in the context of cyber diplomacy; as well as other topics that stimulated the participants’ interest and imagination.
The high-level speakers and participants were actively involved in each panel and exercise which gave a great dynamic to the whole course.
During the three days of the course, various aspects and dimensions related to cyber diplomacy were approached by the speakers from different angles and perspectives, according to their specific expertise. The course benefited from -level speakers representing many important sectors such as politics, diplomacy, academia and institutions, as well as cyber security and critical infrastructure protection. Common points which brought these different perspectives together to form a united vision were related to confidence building and a desire for international cooperation in this field.
All the participants had the opportunity to get a glimpse of the complexity of cyber diplomacy and of the multitude of interactions transcending conventional borders which the name implies.
“The course is well organised, sometimes we passed from the political-strategic level to the tactical or technical one in the next lecture, but the information and knowledge the course provides is excellent.”The National Institute for Research & Development in Informatics recently joined the ESDC’s extensive network and is a provider with significant experience in delivering high-quality, structured training on innovative topics. We would like to express our gratitude to all the course speakers who shared their knowledge and expertise in this field, enabling meaningful dialogues and interactions, and allowing us to almost forget sometimes that it was all taking place virtually. The quality of their lectures and speeches was top-level, which the feedback received also reflects.
“The content and delivery of the course were successfully provided based in line with the envisaged objectives and supporting the learning outcomes”To support and widely promote the cyber diplomacy aspects, the institute launched the International Journal of Cyber Diplomacy: https://ijcd.ici.ro/index.html, where both speakers and participants are invited to contribute and share their views. We are committed to take these sessions to the next level and continue this knowledge journey that has just begun. We would like to thank all course participants who enabled this exceptional experience. It should be noted that the course is modular and that the second module of the course will take place during the first semester of 2021.
“Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this extraordinary experience! This was a really great class, with really impressive speakers!”
