Operational Guidance for the EU’s international cooperation on cyber capacity building

The Operational Guidance is intended to provide a comprehensive practical framework when designing and implementing the EU’s external actions against cybercrime and for promoting cybersecurity and cyber resilience.

The study was commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, Unit “Security, Nuclear Safety” and it was implemented by the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS). It is the result of months of research, including desk research, research missions, interviews and focus groups with experts and policy makers. Between June 2017 and June 2018, the EUISS also organised six expert workshops to discuss different aspects of the study, feeding into the final version. The drafting process was supported by a dedicated EUISS Task Force for Cyber Capacity Building.

The Operational Guidance is also accompanied by a Playbook – an actionable summary that provides a quick overview of the main steps to follow and key challenges to take into consideration when designing and implementing cyber capacity-building interventions.