The Cyber4Dev expert team is comprised of experts from a range of backgrounds, with technical expertise in IT, Development, Communications and Education.
In this post, our expert Nick Small gives his take on the development of the project and his role as co-ordinator in our African partner countries and in South East Asia.
Nick’s background is as a Management and Information Technology Consultant, with over 25 years’ experience in both public and private organisations. Having worked internationally for much of his career, Nick puts this experience to good use in his expert role for Cyber4Dev.
Nick, can you tell us about your role in the project?
I began working on the project as Country Co-ordinator for Botswana (2018) and this has since extended beyond that to working in other countries in Africa and South East Asia. Initially the work centred around working with the Ministry of Transport & Communications and Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) to identity and address gaps in Cyber Security policy and subsequent strategy responses. The work was far reaching and I was able to support the Ministry and BOCRA to explore and refine their strategy, resulting with a set of practical activities that could be deployed in a dynamic environment. From this, I began to work more widely within the project in Botswana and together with Klaid Magi and Martin Miller, we worked with the emerging Botswana CIRT team on the SIM 3 model.
Since then, I have worked in DRC, Mozambique, Laos and Cambodia. In these countries, I have helped to gather information on the specific challenges and opportunities that are apparent and then supported ministries and CIRTs in each jurisdiction to make appropriate interventions, mostly on their strategy and implementation of key tasks, but also on building techniques to support public awareness campaigns centred on the dangers that can be present in the digital world.
How does Cyber4Dev work with partner countries?
Each country has its unique nuances and our Cyber4Dev team are always very cognisant of the need and effectiveness of working collaboratively with existing local teams, who have specific expertise and experience.
Cyber4Dev, with our broad-church of experts, from strategic planning to Cyber experts who have been at the forefront of stopping potential attacks for many years, is able to provide very practical advice and experience to the ministerial and CIRT teams, which is quite unique. This holistic approach means that we can make a very practical impact relatively quickly, as we are able to advise at both a strategic and practical level.
Our project really does provide a global perspective to local teams on issues around cyber resilience and with an emphasis on International Development, we are able to recognise geo-environmental factors and then evaluate and tailor supports that are relevant to each territory.
What are your thoughts on the common themes that are common throughout all of the countries that you have worked in on this project?
Though each country has particular nuances, one of the common themes is that there is a real thirst and willingness to adopt proven international techniques. Each country recognises that cyber resilience and security is borderless and that international cooperation is essential in improving responses to cyber-attacks.
Every country that we work with recognises that the prevalence of the digital economy is here and that within this, there are real opportunities for their economies to thrive and is a transformative opportunity for citizens. With this, they also recognise that the need to enhance cyber capabilities is urgent and will likely increase in its importance over the coming years. Ten years ago, cyber resilience was ‘on the radar’, but in 2020, countries recognise the need to take a serious and strategic approach.
Cyber works quickly (!) and the threats from hackers are dynamic and ever-changing in their complexity, meaning that over the course of days and weeks, potential threats can escalate exponentially. This can be a challenge when supporting the formulation of policy, as the machinery of government is of course not as swift as the threats that we are trying to guard against!
The teams that we work with tend to be young and so there continues to be a great thirst for sharing ideas and knowledge. They are embracing collaborative team working and sharing knowledge with colleagues in a collegiate way that makes it easier to share information quickly.
Final thoughts…
Cyber is an interesting field to work in, its constantly changing and is a dynamic environment to work in. I enjoy working with young and enthusiastic teams who genuinely want to build cyber strength and capacity.
Cyber4Dev works globally to build cyber resilience at Strategic and Operational level. For more information, visit www.cyber4dev.eu
