All new content added to Cybil goes through a curation process to improve accuracy and relevance.
The process for curating resources – tools, publications and webinars – is built around the GFCE working groups. Each working group provided an initial list of resources that they considered useful for their work. They are now able to propose new resources as and when they identify them. In addition, the Cybil Portal Manager or any Cybil user can identify a resource they think would be useful to the community and propose that it is added to the site. When this happens the Working Group will have an opportunity to consider the proposal by silence procedure. If there is a difference of views on whether it should be added to Cybil then it can be discussed at a working group meeting.
A key consideration in the curation process is whether a resource relates directly to cyber capacity building. Each theme and topic has hundreds, if not thousands, of useful resources that have been developed for and by people working in that area. Furthermore, there are often theme or topic-specific online repositories for those resources. For example, within the topic of international laws and norms, there are repositories containing collections of relevant international agreements and statements. Cybil does not attempt to act a repository for all these resources for all themes and topics. Instead, it seeks to be a repository for a much smaller set of resources that have been developed for cyber capacity builders or are frequently used by them. As an example, a practitioners guide to digital forensics would not be suitable for Cybil, but a lessons learned review of international digital forensics training workshops would.
The process of adding a project to Cybil starts when information on it is submitted. The information can come from several sources:
- someone involved in the project, such as a funder, implementer or beneficiary, contacting Cybil;
- a GFCE working group
- a Cybil user; or
- the Cybil Portal Manager and GFCE secretariat staff, who look out for project announcements and routinely call the largest cyber capacity building organisations to ask if there is new information to add to Cybil.
The next step is for the Cybil Portal Manager to confirm the project information with someone involved in the project, if it has not already been submitted by such a person. They then check that the information is not already on Cybil and add it if it is not. There are then two further steps in the process that act as checks on the accuracy of information. First, during the routine calls with the largest cyber capacity building organisations they are able, and encouraged, to check their project information on Cybil. And second, the GFCE working groups are encouraged to make use of Cybil and this provides an opportunity for them to spot missing projects or incorrect information.
The Cybil Steering Committee provides guidance and advice on this curation process.
Do you have a resource or project you would like to add? Please contact us.
