March 6th, 2014

Commonwealth ICT community welcomes Commonwealth Cybergovernance Model at CTO’s 2014 Cybersecurity Forum

Balance between privacy and security, and critical infrastructure protection among the key topics on the first day of the event.

London, 5 March 2014 – Delegates at the fourth Commonwealth Cybersecurity Forum taking place on 5 – 6 March 2014 in London have praised Commonwealth countries for their newly adopted Commonwealth Cybergovernance Model, which they see as a significant step in helping to reach global consensus for a more secure and safe cyberspace.

The Commonwealth Cybergovernance Model, which was adopted the previous day by Commonwealth ICT Ministers at their first biennial meeting, was presented to the wider ICT community at the London forum by The Honourable Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining of Jamaica.

The model establishes four key principles that Commonwealth countries will use for guidance in the governance of cyberspace:

Principle One
“We contribute to a safe and an effective global Cyberspace”

Principle Two
“Our actions in Cyberspace support broader economic and social development”

Principle Three
“We act individually and collectively to tackle cybercrime”

Principle Four
“We each exercise our rights and meet our responsibilities in Cyberspace”

Introduced in 2010, the CTO’s annual Commonwealth Cybersecurity Forum is today the key Commonwealth event to exchange ideas, share knowledge and build relationships to improve the safety, security and resilience of cyberspace. This year’s event is supported by BT, ICANN and Facebook, and was held at the BT Centre in London.

The event is attended by 130 participants from 32 countries, including ICT ministers and regulators, senior government advisors, diplomats, industry leaders, security experts, academia and civil society.

In addition to the launch of the Commonwealth Cybergovernance Model, the first day of the event focused on two main areas:

  • Aligning privacy, security and safety goals with Commonwealth principles
  • Critical information infrastructure protection.

Diverse topics ranging from key infrastructure resilience and national risk registers, to public trust, cyberhygiene, and intellectual property protection were discussed, and various approaches to network and data security, online safety, and privacy were showcased. The coordination of international responses to cyberthreats and intelligence sharing were also discussed.

First day speakers and panellists included:

  • Professor Tim Unwin, Secretary-General, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation
  • Honourable Joel Kaapanda, Minister of Information, Communication and Technology, Namibia
  • Luis Alvarez, Chief Executive Officer, BT Global Services
  • Fadi Chehadé, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
  • Tim Crosland, Head of Cyber, Prevention and Information, Law, Serious Organised Crime Agency and Chair, Commonwealth Cybercrime Initiative
  • Professor Sadie Creese, Professor of Cybersecurity, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford
  • Nigel Hickson, Vice-President Stakeholder Engagement, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
  • Martin Mühleck, Project Officer, DG Connect, European Commission
  • Simon Milner, Policy Director, EMEA, Facebook
  • Elise Latify, Legal Officer, Office of the European Data Protection Supervisor
  • Mark Hughes, Chief Executive Officer, BT Security
  • Zahri Hj Yunos, Chief Operating Officer, CyberSecurity, Malaysia
  • James Saaka, Executive Director, National Information Technology Authority, Uganda.

The second day of the event will focus on three other important areas:

  • Domain name system and security
  • Implementing Computer Emergency Response Teams throughout the Commonwealth
  • Cyberlaw

Download the full copy of the Commonwealth Cybergovernance Model.

More Information

For more information please contact:
The Communications Team
44 (0) 208 600 3800
44 (0) 208 600 3819