5.7 KiB
IGF 2026 WS #86 From Assessment to Impact: Aligning Cyber Capacity Building
Description
Cyber capacity-building has achieved unprecedented momentum. Over the past decade, governments, development partners, and international organisations have invested substantial resources into national programmes, regional initiatives, and institutional development. The challenge now is not capacity investment, but capability realisation. The rapid scaling of cyber capacity-building has created a visible coordination gap. Assessment missions occur in parallel rather than sequenced. Training cycles do not align with institutional readiness. The ecosystem expands, but visibility across it shrinks.
States consistently signal the same preference: sustained, sequenced programmes anchored to national strategy—not one-off workshops.Sustainability requires architecture.Many interventions remain disconnected from the larger institutional development pathway. A cybersecurity training initiative concludes. Personnel turn over. New staff require re-training. The cycle repeats. Without sequencing investments do not compound into lasting state capacity. The roundtable will open with CCB insights based on evidence across two regions where UNIDIR holds direct assessment and programming data. The roundtable will subsequently invite governments, donors, regional organisations and implementing partners to explore how existing investments can better support nationally owned, sustainable and evidence-based capacity-building. Discussion will focus on practical proposals for improving coordination, identifying underserved areas, strengthening the translation of needs assessments into programme design, and ensuring that funding contributes to long-term institutional development. Governing the internet in the age of intelligence demands that cyber capacity keep pace with capability asymmetries. The gap widens when investments are siloed, when needs assessments gather dust, when donors and states operate on incomplete information. Closing that gap requires shared responsibility—and shared responsibility is operational, not rhetorical. Substantive sessions in existing global mechanisms and regional cyber policy bodies—should carry this work forward. Geneva Cyber Week becomes an annual touchpoint where stakeholders may discuss on coordination progress, states update capacity priorities, and implementing partners share lessons learned. Each cycle feeds evidence back into programming decisions.
Policy Question(s)
• What mechanisms would enable donors to see the full capacity-building landscape in real time? • How should states signal which capacity investments will generate institutional returns versus which remain tactical needs? • Which cyber capacity-building functions consistently remain underfunded despite documented demand?
Expected Outcomes
Key Takeaways Paper: Closing the Cyber Capacity-Building Coordination Gap : UNIDIR will synthesise the roundtable discussion and regional assessment data into a focused key takeaways paper for circulation to donors, governments, and regional organisations. Geneva Cyber Week Session: Translating Evidence into Action :The paper is presented and discussed during Geneva Cyber Week, creating visibility among policymakers and providing a platform for donors and states to test implementation approaches and signal commitment to improved coordination.
Reference Document
Reference Document
Format
Roundtable Duration (minutes): 90 Format description: A roundtable is ideal because it sits key donors, select state representatives, regional bodies, 2–3 implementing partners, UNIDIR facilitators. It is small enough that each person contributes but large enough to represent the ecosystem. Around a table, participants face each other. No stage. No hierarchy of seating. Equal sight lines force equal engagement. Questions and counter-arguments surface immediately. Misunderstandings get clarified in real time. Parallel solutions emerge through direct conversation, not solo presentations.
Hybrid Format
Hybrid Format: To ensure seamless interaction between onsite and online participants, after the initial kick-off interventions, we will prioritize questions and interventions from the online audience before turning to onsite participants, ensuring inclusivity and equal engagement across both groups. The organizers will also leverage complementary online tools and platforms such as Slido and online polling tools to collect input and encourage engagement during the session. By incorporating these interactive elements and encouraging active participation from both online and onsite attendees, we aim to create a dynamic and inclusive discussion where diverse perspectives are valued, heard, and recorded to inform the non-paper, which will be published in 2027.
Organizers
Organizer 1: Pavel Mraz, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research Organizer 2: Moliehi Makumane, UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTE FOR DISARMAMENT RESEARCH
Speakers
Speaker 1: Natasha Jackson, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG) Speaker 2: Pavel Mraz, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization Speaker 3: Thelma QUAYE, Intergovernmental Organization, African Group
Moderator
Moliehi Makumane, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization
Online Moderator
A Kastelic, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization
Rapporteur
Pavel Mraz, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization
Participant Benefits
What will participants gain from attending this session?
SDGs
- Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
- Partnerships for the Goals