19 October 2022
Creation of Global Forum on Cyber Expertise Southeast Asia Position
Coordinating cyber capacity building in Southeast Asia
The creation of a Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) Southeast Asia Liaison position, in partnership with Cyber Security Agency Singapore (CSA), was announced by Singapore’s Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, Mr. Teo Chee Hean, on 19 October at the Singapore International Cyber Week (SICW) 2022.
Cyber capacity building is a key lever in closing the gaps in national cyber capabilities and achieving greater security and resilience in cyberspace. Since 2016, Singapore – together with regional and extra-regional partners – has been running cyber capacity building programs in the cyber technical, operational, policy and diplomacy streams for ASEAN senior officials under the ASEAN Cyber Capacity Programme and Singapore’s SGD 30 million ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence (ASCCE) which was established in 2019.
The Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) has been coordinating and facilitating various regional and international cyber capacity building initiatives to better coordinate capacity building efforts across different regions and internationally to ensure optimal use of resources and exchange of best practices. The GFCE recognizes the unique regional characteristics that necessitate a tailored, respectful, demand- and community-driven approach to cyber capacity building.
The GFCE has been increasingly active in the Southeast Asia region on coordinating cyber capacity building. The GFCE held its Annual Meeting 2018 in the margins of the SICW and since then it has sought to improve representation in the region. At present, five ASEAN Member States are part of the GFCE Community. In partnership with CSA, the GFCE holds its annual Southeast Asia Regional Meeting within the SICW program.
As part of this demand-driven approach, and recognising the importance of representation in the region, the GFCE will install a Southeast Asia Liaison at the ASCCE, alongside other regional presences in Africa, Latin America and the Pacific. The creation of the Southeast Asia Liaison position represents a GFCE milestone – namely, establishing on-the-ground presence in all continents represented by the GFCE community. Moreover, this position will ensure cyber capacity building remains locally-driven and demonstrate the region’s importance in international cyber capacity building efforts.
The Liaison will connect the region and ASCCE’s existing efforts more closely with other GFCE member and partners, including GFCE Liaisons and Hubs from other regions. In this way, the Liaison will act as the linchpin between regional stakeholders and the GFCE’s activities and community. This closer integration of the region and the GFCE through the Liaison is expected to facilitate exchange of best practices and foster a deeper understanding of the region’s cyber capability gaps, as well as ensure better coordination of cyber capacity building efforts amongst the region’s stakeholders and more efficient use of resources to close these gaps.
Singapore’s Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, Mr. Teo Chee Hean, on 19 October at the Singapore International Cyber Week (SICW) 2022.
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The Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE), since its establishment in 2015 in The Hague, is a multi-stakeholder platform comprising more than 175 members and partners, including governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil society, industry and academia. The GFCE serves as an international platform for international collaboration in cyber capacity building, and its current focus is on coordinating regional and global cyber capacity building projects and initiatives, sharing knowledge and expertise, and matching needs of individual nations to offers of cyber capacity building support from the GFCE community. The GFCE also conducts research to fill high-priority knowledge gaps in global cyber capacity building.
For more information about the GFCE, please visit www.thegfce.org.
The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) seeks to keep Singapore’s cyberspace safe and secure to underpin our Nation Security, power a Digital Economy and protect our Digital Way of Life. It maintains an oversight of national cybersecurity functions and works with sector leads to protect Singapore’s Critical Information Infrastructure. CSA also engages with various stakeholders to heighten cyber security awareness, build a vibrant cybersecurity ecosystem supported by a robust workforce, pursue international partnerships and drive regional cybersecurity capacity building programmes.
CSA is part of the Prime Minister’s Office and is managed by the Ministry of Communications and Information. For more news and information, please visit www.csa.gov.sg.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Name: GFCE Secretariat
Email: contact@thegfce.org
