News
The Three Seas Summit and Business Forum in Vilnius was a wonderful occasion for networking and participating in a lot of important cybersecurity initiatives. Last week, Izabela Albrycht took part in the side event organized by INFOBALT Lithuania in cooperation with the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania and the CEE Digital Coalition, 3Seas Initiative Summit 2024 main event, as well as the side event organized by the Atlantic Council and the side event "Skilled Talent Drives Digital Advancement in the Three Seas Initiative" organized by Women Go Tech and CEE Digital Coalition.
The "ThreeSeasSummit and Business Forum - Cybersecurity, Resilience, Connectivity: Critical Infrastructure in 3 Seas Forum" is a premier gathering dedicated to the esteemed audience of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI), including high-level delegates from Baltic, Poland, other 3SI States, and strategic partners. This event aims to connect key policymakers, decision-makers, experts, and businesses in the realm of cybersecurity and resilience.
Izabela was one of the participants of the panel: Future Proof and Innovative Technology Solutions for More Resilient Critical Infrastructure.
- We need more innovation in cybersecurity in the CEE region because innovations can drive economic growth. The cybersecurity market in Central and Eastern Europe was estimated at USD 4.95 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 11.02 billion by 2026, according to ResearchAndMarkets (2021). This growth is partly due to increasing demand for security solutions and heightened awareness of threats – said director of the AGH Cybersecurity Centre and added: - Universities are natural innovators. We can foster innovation through the triple helix model of collaboration, which stimulates cooperation between the private sector, scientific institutions, public administration entities, international corporations, chambers of industry and commerce, and other partners. A case study is the collaboration between AGH University and the #CyberMadeInPoland Cluster, a platform for cooperation and promotion of the Polish cybersecurity industry, gathering 56 cluster members, including award-winning companies.
Izabela mention also the importance of data and described the SOCCER project.
- A few months ago, we have initiated the SOCCER project in collaboration with universities from Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Estonia, and Lithuania. Its goal is to establish a data, information, and CTI sharing ecosystem across the academic sector in CEE, thanks to vulnerability databases. In the future, these data sets will enable the SOCCER consortium to focus on the practical use of AI and ML technologies to improve detection, response, and understanding of the threat. Artificial Intelligence will primarily monitor data, identify trends, and facilitate decision-making through better threat detection and automatic classification of security incidents. This means AI will be utilized to mitigate cybersecurity risks and protect systems across critical infrastructure.
11th April was dedicated to the annual Three Seas Summit and Business Forum, a politically inspired, commercially driven platform for improving connectivity among thirteen EU Member States located between the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic seas and Strategic Partners.
-The general conclusion of the 9th Three Seas Summit can be translated into a new acronym for this regional initiative, 4S, which stands for 3Seas+Security. Most decision-makers and experts agreed that we need to reframe the scope of our cooperation to make it more security-oriented. This is due to the new geopolitical circumstances, with a war on the 3SI borders, which is forcing us to adapt. However, we are also living through an era of high-speed technology development, a technology race if you will. This is taking place globally and impacting the geopolitical and geoeconomic positions of countries, so we also need more innovation-oriented collaboration. This aims to boost the technological capabilities of the region and thereby improve our geopolitical position and economic competitiveness. It is worth highlighting that this innovation can directly lead to enhanced security, including cybersecurity and resilience of the region – concluded Izabela.
On Friday, 12th April, Izabela took part in the side event "Skilled Talent Drives Digital Advancement in the Three Seas Initiative”. The event gathered the region’s top experts, policy-makers, researchers, and ICT industry representatives in their discussion of the latest research in the field and issues related to improving competence among the general population and ensuring the region's access to ICT specialists.
The main topic which was addressed during the event was how do we build the future power hub for women in tech in Central Eastern Europe and reinforce the Three Seas Initiative’s digital pillar by strengthening our talent pool.
At the event was presented the latest study by Women Go Tech, supported by Google and OSCE, unveiled that 61% of women in the CEE region are keen to expand their knowledge in AI.
At the same time, the lack of workplace training poses a significant barrier to leveraging AI for career development. Only 8% of women have received education from their employers.
In her speech, Izabela Albrycht underlined that as cybersecurity threats evolve and intensify, the demand for skilled professionals is outpacing supply. The overall workforce gap in the sector grew by 12,6% in 2023, and the current shortage of cybersecurity professionals is close to 4 MLN globally. Such a state of affairs means policymakers and companies must move quickly to find new ways of attracting women to the sector.
In the presentation supported by Women4Cyber Foundation and Women4Cyber Poland, Izabela presented data that shows there is still variation in the estimates from different sources, but the percentage of women working in cybersecurity in the European market is slowly increasing.
The number of women entering the cybersecurity field is also increasing. In 2022, 25% of women who graduated with STEM degrees entered the cybersecurity field. This is up from 22% in 2021.
Attracting more women to work in cybersecurity globally must be prioritized if governments and businesses are going to build their resilience - summed up Izabela.