News Item | 16 December 2020
This year the GFCE hosted its ever first virtual Annual Meeting, by using a virtual experience platform, creating an online venue where all GFCE Members and Partners came together to attend sessions, showcased deliverables, and had bilateral conversations in order to make steps to improve global Cyber Capacity Building. During the two-day virtual meeting, the platform brough together more than 200 representatives from governments, NGOs, international organizations, academic and tech communities and civil society.
The focus of the GFCE in 2020 was on consolidating its position as the coordinating platform for cyber capacity building and further strengthen international collaboration and expertise globally. The GFCE accomplished to set and achieve concrete deliverables within the GFCE Working Groups, focused on setting the first Global Cyber Capacity Building Research Agenda, collaborated on GFCE initiatives with other stakeholders, set up regional meetings, participated in online conferences and initiated new projects. Amonst other deliverables, the GFCE managed to achieve:
- The establishment of the GFCE Foundation Board in January 2020, to support and strengthen the GFCE efforts;
- The GFCE 5th Anniversary in April with the implementation of the GFCE V-Meeting series of a 7-week online webinars;
- The introduction of the new GFCE tool the Global Cyber Capacity Building Research Agenda, with fifteen (15) research ideas identified to help design and run projects by identifying knowledge gaps and filling gaps through research;
- The introduction of the six (6) GFCE Strategic Building Blocks to guide the directions of the GFCE in 2021;
- The updated GFCE Clearing House Mechanism, connecting cyber capacity needs and offers for support;
- The GFCE Regional Meetings in Europe (January 2020) and Melbourne (February 2020);
- The establishment of the GFCE Women in CCB Network to connect female experts in CCB and facilitate the implementation of projects;
- The scope of a future GFCE Pacific Hub, to facilitate national and regional cyber capacity building coordination and information sharing;
- The GFCE Working Groups’ deliverables for 2020 and their Work Plan for 2021;
- The achievements of Cybil Knowledge Portal during 2020 with more than 500 actors, 600 projects, 100 publications and 1000 visitors a month;
- The GFCE collaboration with the Gates Foundation and the African Union to deliver CCB training modules and identify a number of key CCB challenges in Africa.
The Report on the GFCE Annual V-Meeting 2020 provides an overview of the GFCE Deliverables 2020, a short summary and the links to watch all sessions of the Annual V-Meeting together with outcomes and next steps for 2021.
