A Short Guide to Stakeholder Engagement on National Cybersecurity Strategy Development

Stakeholder engagement is key to the success of any project and is often more of an art than a science. Initial stakeholder consultations and core consultation events are crucial for different aspects of the National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS) development: from building relationships and trust and confidence in the process to training and capacity building of stakeholder groups which have not been involved in cyber issues before, to the actual focus groups and round table discussions which are essential to gather the evidence, perspective, and input to the NCS.

This short guide to stakeholder engagement explores: (1) Why stakeholder engagement is important; (2) How to involve stakeholders; (3) How to improve the experience of stakeholders when working remotely; and (4) key recommendations for international implementers.

This guide was presented as part in a webinar which was part of a series of online sessions organised by the GCSCC and its regional partners, the Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa (C3SA) and the Oceania Cyber Security Centre (OCSC) and was a contribution to the Global Forum for Cyber Expertise (GFCE) Task Force “Strategy & Assessments”.