Team

Liina joined EU CyberNet in February 2021 to lead the creation of the Regional Representative of the Latin America and Caribbean Cyber Competence Centre in the Dominican Republic (LAC4). This role follows up her previous work in the region through the EU Cyber4Dev project, where she served as Consortium Partner Leader, providing policy guidance and coordinating Estonian contribution to the first global EU cyber capacity building project.

She is thrilled to be part of the CyberNet team of highly driven specialists working under Estonian Information System Authority (RIA), a public agency whose purpose is to bring together Estonia’s cyber and e-Gov expertise to develop, administer and protect the best digital society of the world.

Liina has had a diverse career, looking at cybersecurity and international co-operation from a variety of angles since 2007, as a diplomat in NATO, Cybersecurity Adviser at the Estonian Ministry of Defence, Director of International Relations at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence and at RIA. Forever interested in digital innovation and its applications for common good, she has also worked as the Director of Tallinn Digital Summit, a HoSG level conference on artificial intelligence hosted by the Government Office of Estonia. Liina has also held a variety of policy roles at the Estonian Ministry of Defence, including 3 years as arms control adviser.

Her graduate and postgraduate studies and academic work have taken her to the universities of Tartu, St.Petersburg, Oslo, Castellón and the NATO Defence College in Rome.

Alongside all this, she is a proud mother of 4, and combines her domestic kingdom with extensive travel, long distance running, culinary delights and extreme adventures.

Merili joined EU CyberNet project as LAC Regional Programme Lead from 1 August 2023 to lead and coordinate through Latin America and Caribbean Cyber Competence Centre (LAC4) our cyber capacity building activities in the region.

From April 2021 to September 2023 Merili was the Consortium Partner Leader of Estonia in the first global EU cyber capacity and resilience building project EU Cyber4Dev. Her role was to plan and steer Estonian participation through the Information System Authority (RIA) in the project and represent Cyber4Dev internationally. In addition to that, she was coordinating all project’s cyber capacity building activities in the Latin America and Caribbean region with special focus on policies, CSRIT development and cyber awareness.

Before that, Merili has worked 10 years in various positions within the Estonian government (Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Equality Commissioner’s office), mainly focusing on EU politics and international relations. From 2018-2021 Merili was the counsellor on home affairs in the Permanent Representation of Estonia to the European Union in Brussels where her role was to negotiate EU legislation and coordinate the development of national positions in the fields of border management, Schengen area, visas, large-scale IT systems and COVID-19 policies regarding free movement and represent Estonian positions and interests in various EU working groups and formats.

Prior to this, Merili worked with OECD member states and beneficiary countries in the Development Cooperation Directorate in the OECD where she was responsible for the coordination of Development Assistance Committee (DAC) meetings and DAC Network on Gender Equality.

Merili has ample project management experience from various OECD and EU projects from the development, cyber security and gender equality areas.

Merili holds an MA degree in European Politics from the Institute of Political Science of Strasbourg, France. She speaks fluently Estonian, English and French and has limited working proficiency in Spanish.

In her spare time Merili enjoys long walks and playing with her brand new corgi Winston and tries to spend as much time as possible in the beautiful Estonian countryside.

César Moliné Rodríguez serves as Regional Representative of the Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Competence Centre in Dominican Republic (LAC4). He is in charge of managing and coordinating the day-to-day operations of the Center, including cooperation with national administrations, industry, academia and the private sector to support the growth and integration of the Centre on the global cybersecurity ecosystem.

César is a lawyer specialized in business law and new technologies with more than 20 years of experience in the areas of e-commerce and digital signatures, privacy and cybersecurity. Among his functions, he has served as Director of Cybersecurity, Electronic Commerce and Digital Signature of the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (INDOTEL), Working Group Coordinator of the Global Forum of Cybernetic Expertise (GFCE), and is also a representative of the Dominican Republic in the Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) of the Council of Europe.

He has various degrees in areas such as Electronic Commerce from Universidad Antonio de Nebrija, Electronic Government from Universidad de Chile. He also has studies on New Technologies Law from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, ICT Policy Development from the Korea Development Center, Regulation of Public Utilities from the University of Florida and Regulation of Telecommunications from Neotelis and the United States Telecommunications Institute, as well as in Cybersecurity from Universidad de León and from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and International Law from Reading University.

He is a rum enthusiast and connoisseur and he divides his free time between Scubadiving and Geocaching.

Adria joined EU CyberNet in March 2023.

With a degree in Business Administration, Adria has strong know-how in her professional field. She has more than 3 years of experience in the administration area developing as an administrative assistant for an international logistics company, also as an executive assistant and in charge of mobilization in a global IT company.

Adria is a proactive, persistent, responsible, passionate and committed person with the proposed goals. She enjoys challenges as they provide knowledge and growth in her professional and personal path.

Living in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Adria loves the local beaches and the warm climate of the Caribbean.

Sten joined the team in April 2023 to ensure effective communication, marketing and PR activities for EU CyberNet project around the world. His main focuses are handling media relation, public outreach and social media presence.

Sten has a hands-on experience in managing communication and PR of international affairs, EU-affairs foreign and security policy, digital transition and e-governance. He has worked as a press officer to the Prime Minister of Estonia from 2021 to 2023 where he managed Prime Minister’s international PR activities and communications, and communications for government’s EU-affairs. Previously, Sten has worked as a press and communications officer at the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, and the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sten has a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Tartu.

Winston is a true cyber security champion and he has taught us the fundamental rules:

Stay protective – guard your network access as Winston guards his owner Merili.

Keep your area patrolled – Check the source (and sniff if neccessary) of every communication to verify if it is a trusted one.

Bark it out – alert the IT team immediately when you suspect a spoofing email or virus (or a pigeon behind the window).

Work together – as a true working dog, Winston keeps his friends close by and counts on them for cooperation and mutual assistance if necessary.