GFCE Europe Regional Meeting 2023

The GFCE Europe Regional Meeting took place back-to-back with the European Cyber Agora conference 2023 in Brussels, Belgium.  

Ms Tereza Horejsova, GFCE Outreach Manager, opened the regional meeting by sharing the context of regional efforts of the GFCE, which serve to better understand regional perspectives and capacity needs and translate them into specific activities to support capacity building. The aims of the meeting thus included: to encourage and support European regional coordination and cooperation through mechanisms and tools, such as the Cybil Portal; to share knowledge; to offer support for individual needs of countries and the global Cyber Capacity Building research agenda by filling in knowledge gaps; and to support sustainable growth of GFCE structures such as the GFCE Foundation, Advisory Board, and various other Committees and Groups that ensure inclusivity and diversity of perspectives within the GFCE. She stressed similar format meetings are organized for other regions in which the GFCE is active, including Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean, Pacific Islands and South-East Asia. Special focus, within Europe, is given to the region of Western Balkans. 

The director of the GFCE, Mr David Van Duren, followed by explaining the GFCE structure, highlighting the evolution of the Forum over the years. He stressed that the GFCE main focus has shifted from awareness to implementation. In addition, he highlighted that strengthening international cooperation and cyber capacity building is and should always be the main mission of the GFCE.  

The highlight of his presentation was an announcement of the Global Conference on Cyber Capacity Building (GC3B), which will take place in Accra, Ghana, on 29-30 November 2023. The conference will conclude months of efforts in building a program that reflects the shaping of global agenda on cyber capacity building and will be important for further connecting development and cyber discussions.  

The event recording is available at: GFCE Europe Regional Meeting 2023 – Meeting Recording.