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OAS Joins Global Forum on Cyber Expertise at Cyberspace Conference

The Organization of American States (OAS) today joined, as a founding member, the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) that was launched in the framework of the Global Conference on Cyberspace (GCCS), taking place on April 16 and 17 in The Hague, The Netherlands.

The GFCE, in which participation is voluntary and not legally binding, provides a dedicated and informal platform for policymakers, practitioners and experts from different countries and regions to facilitate the sharing of experience, expertise, best practices and assessments on key regional and thematic cyber issues. The GFCE aims to identify gaps in global cyber capacity and develop innovative solutions to challenges, as well as contribute to existing efforts and to mobilize additional resources and expertise, to build global cyber capacity in partnership with and according to the particular needs of interested countries, upon their request.

The Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Albert Ramdin, said the move is another example of the regional and global commitment of the Organization, and in particular its Cyber Security Program, to ensuring that member states have access to the cyber expertise of their counterparts around the world. In addition, he highlighted the financial contributions to OAS initiatives and projects from donor countries such as Canada, Estonia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The OAS Assistant Secretary General, who was joined in The Hague by the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE), Neil Klopfenstein, took the opportunity to present and submit the “OAS Cyber Security Initiative,” co-sponsored by the governments of Argentina, Chile México and Estonia, which addresses cyber security issues based on a flexible and dynamic approach, in which cyber security policies and the provision of technical training are adapted to new trends and evolving needs. The OAS General Secretariat is also supporting other initiatives related to Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRsT) maturity and other GFCE initiatives related to assessing and developing cyber capability.

The Executive Secretary of CICTE, for his part, said the OAS currently provides different areas of expertise to its member states, and emphasized that cyber security is an area in which the OAS has made a significant effort to bring together government representatives with private sector and civil society actors. Executive Secretary Klopfenstein highlighted that the Cyber Security Program follows an inclusive and multi-stakeholder approach that is being promoted across the Hemisphere. The Executive Secretary of CICTE also made a special call to OAS member states to invest more efforts and resources in securing cyberspace, calling this essential for the promotion of democracy, human rights, security, and development in the Hemisphere.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-139/15