Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Initiative (*GFCE Initiative)

Summary

This initiative by Spain, Switzerland, Norway and The Netherlands (as members and partners of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise) aims to support policy makers with responsibility for Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (CIIP) to understand the implications and consequences of cybersecurity issues and to maintain an awareness of current developments. By working together in a global initiative the initiators leverage their CIIP expertise for the benefit of a broader audience to help develop CIIP capabilities, particularly in developing countries.

The initiative is run by the Meridian Community; a large group of countries organizing CIIP related International Conferences since 2005.

Country participants of this initiative will automatically get access to the Meridian Community. This means access to Meridian Conferences, and eventually the Meridian membership portal (CIIP best practices, CIIP directory with expert contacts, etc.

Expected outcomes in 2016
Research into specific CIIP relevant topics (initiated or in collaboration with existing researches). A CIIP maturity building blocks research project will be developed in partnership with the Meridian Community.
Workshop aimed at developing countries to establish a baseline of CIIP knowledge. This would include basic CII sector definition, CERT models, NCSS, PPP and similar concepts. This could be a ‘primer’ day in advance of the Meridian Conference.
Periodic topical seminars and workshops (possibly online), building upon the accumulated results and outputs of the various sessions at Meridian Conferences over the past 11 years. Building on prototyping of a ‘primer’ day at M2016, a ‘roadshow’ version could also be developed for ad-hoc deployment as required.
Creation of Good Practice guidelines on aspects of CIIP. Appropriate past Meridian workshops will be developed into Good Practice guidelines e.g. Risk-Management for Strategic Decision Makers
Expected outcomes in 2017 and beyond
Tool-kits or learning materials (virtual or physical) tailored to specific CIIP issues. The Meridian Community will be canvassed for suggestions and initiatives which may be developed and promoted via Meridian. Tool-kits or learning materials (virtual or physical) will be tailored to specific CIIP issues.

For more information please visit the GFCE website