CBM 5: Capacity building platform

Background: First articulated in the third APR (2024), this CBM highlights the importance of capacity-building programs as an “important avenue of collaboration which could strengthen relationships as well as build trust and enhance confidence between States.”352 Capacity is recognized as essential to CBM implementation:353 for example, states need a national cybersecurity strategy to contribute to transparency (CBM 3), or functioning governance structures to nominate PoCs (CBM 1).354 Cooperation in capacity-building is also confidence-building in itself, as such programs often involve disclosure of weaknesses and sensitive information. Increased trust, in turn, improves cooperation and reduces duplication in these efforts.

Practice: No explicit implementation measures have yet been taken for this CBM. However, many related initiatives exist, making the CBM widely implemented in an implicit sense: The OEWG has served as a platform for states to exchange information on capacity-building needs, initiatives, and partnerships. Each session has included a dedicated discussion on capacity building, contributing to greater transparency in this area and underlining once again that the OEWG itself functions as a CBM. The UNIDIR Cyber Policy Portal also supports this CBM, in connection with the Cybil Portal (launched in 2019 by the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise). Cybil serves as a central repository for international cyber capacity-building projects355 and, currently, contains around 1,000 projects. In 2023, the UN Secretariat was tasked with mapping global and regional capacity-building initiatives, drawing on member state input.356 The resulting 2024 report provides a global overview and implicitly supports this CBM. Furthermore, the OEWG’s final report proposes creating a Global ICT Security Cooperation and Capacity-Building Portal (GSCCP), which could provide additional support for CBM implementation if issues of sustainable funding and duplication with existing platforms are resolved.357 States have also suggested practical tools, such as Kazakhstan’s proposal for a CCB template to streamline requests and match needs with offers.358 This CBM is also connected to CBM 1, as the directory “could serve as platforms for capacity-building” and the PoC Directory could be linked to the GSCCP.359

It is important to note that these initiatives developed independently of this CBM, but collectively contribute to its implicit implementation.

• States agreed to exchange information on cyber capacity-building needs, partnerships, and initiatives through UN discussions and related international processes.

• Resources implicitly supporting implementation include the Cybil Portal as well as proposals for a future global portal to coordinate ICT security training opportunities.