The two-day seminar in Guatemala City from 17th to 18th September, part of LAC4 weeklong mission to Guatemala, brought together public and private sector stakeholders, academia and indigenous communities to discuss building more resilient and secure digital societies. In addition, several multilateral meetings were organized with key stakeholders from different sectors to raise awareness about cyber risks and share best practices from EU, Estonia and Costa Rica on cyber governance structure, public-private partnerships and academic initiatives.
EU CyberNet and LAC4 mission lead Merili Soosalu was thrilled to witness the enthusiasm of the Guatemalan public in coming together to pursue a shared vision for cybersecurity governance and practical capacity building: “The activities within the inaugural LAC4 mission to Guatemala attracted more than 300 participants from different sectors. By fostering collaboration and dialogue among key stakeholders, Guatemala is taking significant steps towards strengthening its cybersecurity posture. EU CyberNet and LAC4 remain committed in supporting Guatemala on their journey.”
EU CyberNet Experts Kadri Kaska and Jorge Mora Flores highlighted in their keynotes that advancements in cyber sphere are not achieved by acting alone, but acting as a unison, because digital transformation has a whole societal approach. They also discussed how to build a digitally resilient society and how to cybersecurity governance could successfully offer a tangible value by offering practical examples from Estonia, the European Union and Costa Rica: “At the central stage of our increasingly digital world is cybersecurity. It safeguards the infrastructure underpinning modern life, but without secure systems, the benefits of digital transformation turn into vulnerabilities. True resilience in this space is not about preventing all incidents, but about being prepared to detect, contain and minimize the damage when they occur. As no one can tackle the threats alone, it requires a united effort from the governments, private sector and civil society. Cross-sectoral leadership, accountability and commitment define cybersecurity and protect democracy.”
The group discussions at seminars focused on national cybersecurity fundamentals to provide government leaders, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, civil society and academia clear understanding of the foundational elements necessary for national cybersecurity. Through a collaborative approach, participants evaluated their current cybersecurity landscape, identified gaps and defined priorities for further actions to build a secure and more resilient digital society.
Meetings with key stakeholders from government institutions and ministries allowed for a more deliberate discussion on different cyber governance models and sharing the lessons learned from the EU. In addition, EU CyberNet mission took part of the National Cybersecurity Committee meeting on 19 September to brief committee members about cybersecurity cooperation possibilities between the EU and Guatemala within the bilateral cooperation with LAC4 initiative.
“Private sector, civil society and academia also play pivotal role in the digital and cyber ecosystem, including in bringing cybersecurity topics closer to citizens. During multilateral meetings with cross-sectoral representatives, we discussed concrete initiatives that enable more public-private-academic partnerships which could serve as examples for Guatemala’s cybersecurity development,” said Merili Soosalu.
In the first day of mission, the accession ceremony of Guatemala to LAC4 took place in the presence of Merili Soosalu (LAC4 Programme Lead), Edie Cux (Executive Director of GAE) and Thomas Peyker (EU Ambassador to Guatemala).
