EU strengthens Indo-Pacific cybersecurity cooperation with week-long expert training

The cybersecurity training was for experts from partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region and took place from 25 October to 29 October. The training is a good example of actions foreseen under the EU’s new Indo Pacific Strategy, whereby the EU will intensify its dialogues with partners on security and defence, including cybersecurity, to strengthen capacity-building for partners to tackle cybercrime.

The expert training for 40 participants from the Indo-Pacific region is an important element of the EU-Japan Connectivity Partnership towards an open, free, stable, accessible, interoperable, reliable and secure cyberspace; ultimately feeding into a future proposed EU-Japan Digital Partnership. Additionally, the EU and Japan are collaborating on other issues, such as advancing a human-centred digital transformation and cyber security standards at the global level.

The training is part of a Cybersecurity Week that covers security of devices, systems, networks, and controls used in industrial processes, and a session on Policy and Standardisation also took place.

The training is organised by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and ICSCoE (Industrial Cyber Security Center of Excellence); the US government (DHS/CISA, DOS and DOE). On the European side, experts from the European Commission’s Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG Connect), the Directorate General for Energy, the EU’s Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), as well as industry participated.

Japan and the EU are close partners in promoting the most advanced cybersecurity practices to other countries. First launched as a bilateral exercise between Japan and the United States in 2018, the EU has now been involved since 2020, becoming a formal partner this year.