Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Remarks at the
Global Conference on Cyber Capacity Building (GC3B):
Cyber Resilience for Development
CICG, Geneva, Switzerland
[As prepared for delivery]
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning.
Let me start by thanking our hosts, the Swiss Confederation, and the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise for the kind invitation.
This year marks the 160th anniversary of ITU, the United Nations agency for digital technologies
It marks 80 years since the UN itself was founded ꟷ and 20 years since the World Summit on the Information Society (concluded its two phases).
In 2005, when about 1 billion people were connected to the Internet, countries came together around a shared vision that technology could be a force for development and opportunity for all.
11 WSIS Action Lines were established to guide those efforts.
ITU leads four of those Action Lines, including on building confidence and security in the use of information and communication technologies, or ICTs.
Confidence and security make cyber resilience for development possible.
When people, companies, and governments trust digital technologies ꟷ and they feel confident in their safety, reliability, and governance ꟷ they are far more likely to use, invest in, and benefit from those technologies, including for development.
Cyber resilience must also be a development priority ꟷ for all countries.
Because the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain becomes the Achilles heel for a world of 8 billion people...
People like you, me, and everyone in this room are increasingly reliant on digital technology and critical infrastructure, like the submarine cables that carry 99 per cent of international data traffic.
That's why, together with the International Cable Protection Committee, ITU has established an International Advisory Body to promote dialogue and collaboration on enhancing the resilience of these vital subsea cable systems.
It's also why, through our capacity building work, ITU focuses our efforts on three key elements of cyber resilience: 1) strategy; 2) skills, and 3) partnerships.
In the past years, ITU has helped a number of countries implement National Cybersecurity Strategies and held Global CyberDrills for countries to put these strategies into practice.
This year's drill brought more than 1300 participants from 136 countries together to test their readiness against simulated threats like ransomware attacks and misinformation scenarios.
The second key element is skills.
Because ultimately, cyber resilience is about equipping people ꟷ professionals, parents, teachers, youth ꟷ with the skills they need to navigate the digital world safely.
Initiatives like HerCyberTracks and Women in Cyber are helping thousands of women build expertise in incident response and cyber diplomacy, and the ITU-led Child Online Protection initiative has reached over 170,000 children.
Third, partnerships are key to scaling cyber resilience.
The latest ITU Global Cybersecurity Index shows that with the right partnerships, every country has the potential to lead. Including Least Developed Countries, where we have at least three that are currently ranked among the GCI's top performers.
And through Cyber for Good, ITU members from government, civil society, and the private sector are partnering to deliver free tools, training, and advisory services to more than 30 Least-Developed Countries.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We've made a great deal of progress in the two decades since the World Summit on the Information Society.
But there is still much left to do.
Emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing bring pressing new challenges when it comes to trust.
We still face a global shortfall of nearly 5 million cybersecurity professionals.
But by investing in cyber resilience strategies, skills and partnerships where they are needed most — we can bridge this and all digital divides.
ITU looks forward to working with all of you to continue to build that capacity.
And paving the way towards a more cyber resilient digital future for all humanity.
