Template for submitting proposals
Proposal Open Forum Breaking Down Silos
Question 1: Title of proposed open forum.
Breaking down silos in national and international cooperation on cyber security and cyber crime
Question 2: Please provide a concise description of the proposed open forum.
The Dutch government believes that public-private cooperation is an essential corner stone to
achieve its policy goals of keeping the internet a secure, trusted and free space. The principle of
public-private cooperation guides various policy initiatives, such as the (second) National Cyber
Security Strategy, currently under development by the Ministry of Security and Justice in close
cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, other departments, the private sector, academia
and civil society. Also the Ministry of Economic Affairs is currently developing its vision towards the
Internet for the mid-term period.
This workshop is organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in close cooperation with the Dutch
National Cyber Security Centre and touches on the necessity of exploring new forms of cooperation
in sharing relevant data for cyber security.
From an international comparative study into national and international cooperation concerning
online threats the organizers learned that pro-active and, for a substantial number of state actors
even, reactive cooperation and data-sharing is hard to impossible to achieve due to very different,
but negative reasons1.
IGF 2012 Workshop #87 on ‘Cross border cooperation in incidents involving (Internet) Critical
Infrastructure‘ concluded with several recommendations. An important one was that the different
expert groups, public and private, on cyber security and enforcement seem to function too much in
isolation, as if in a silo. The panel concluded that these silos need to be broken down in order to be
able to share relevant data, learn to understand each other and actually cooperate in order to
achieve enhanced cyber security and more efficient enforcement of perpetrations in the cyber realm.
At the same time it was pointed out that cooperation between industry itself was not necessarily a
1
You can find the report here: http://woutdenatris.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/581/
common thing and sharing data between public and private entities got stuck in discussions on data
protection questions.
“Breaking down silos” sounds easy, but these experts notice that it is mostly not happening and if it
is, not (fast) enough. “We discuss it and then we go home”. The organizers has noted this and is keen
on hearing best practices from around the world in order to be able to judge whether this could be
an example for Dutch national policy that presently is being drafted. At the same time The
Netherlands is able to show its own best practices to other countries, including “the Dutch model” of
the NCSC.
This open forum will bring best practices together from around the world and debate e.g. the
following questions: How should “breaking down silos” be interpreted?; Who are actually
addressed?; Who need to break down silos? Is it necessary to make someone responsible for this
task?; What are the opportunities and challenges?; What is the aim of this approach and is this
clearly defined? What steps need to be undertaken, if a global solution is needed?
In the open forum we bring together current initiatives with industry and governments, to discuss
best practices, lessons learned and potential steps forward that will enhance cyber security and
cyber enforcement significantly in the coming years. In the future new forms of cooperation will
build bridges to enhance cyber security, create the potential for joint actions and enlarge the
potential for public-private partnerships that ensure a better cyber security and pushes back
(organized) crime from the internet.
Finally, the bottom line often is that issues like security, privacy and openness/freedom of speech
cannot be solved at a national or even regional level, as the internet is a true global medium.
However, so far, attempts to solve these issues internationally/globally, have failed because of the
differences in cultures, values, norms and legislation. Discussions are being held continuously,
without really making any progress; there seems to be an invisible glass ceiling stopping us... What
are suggestions for a way forward?
Question 3: Which of the six broad IGF Themes does your open forum fall under?
Building bridges/Cyber security/cyber crime enforcement
Question 4: Have you, or any of your co-organizers, organized an IGF open forum before?
No, the Ministry of Economic Affairs of The Netherlands has never organized an open forum before.
However, as a vast supporter and financial donor of the IGF, it contributes directly and indirectly to
the forum. Furthermore, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is also funding the NL IGF program. This
program is responsible for raising awareness in The Netherlands for the IGF by organizing workshops
and seminars on (potential) IGF topics and provides a useful multistakeholder platform for national
coordination towards the IGF(‘s workhops).
Question 4a: If so, please provide the link(s) to the report(s):
For an overview of workshops, organized by NL IGF over the years with the support of the Ministry of
Economic Affairs, we refer you to the application of Workshop #90.
Question 5: Provide the names and affiliations of the panelists you are planning to invite. (Please
note that workshops are expected to adhere to the multi-stakeholder principle, including
geographical and gender diversity and to provide different perspectives on the issues under
discussion.)
Europol, The EC 3 centre on cyber crime. R. Leaning, TBC
National Cyber Security Centre, A. Jochem, TBC
Japanese anti-spam center, K. Nishimatsu, TBC
DG Information Applications Indonesia, A. Sasongko, TBC
US State Department, C. Painter, TBC
Kenian government representative, TBD
Anti Cyber Defence Centre (ACDC), H. Lesch, TBC
Google, P. Ryan, TBC
SIDN, R. Meijer, TBC
Question 5a: Name of Remote Moderator(s).
Wout de Natris, De Natris Consult
Sophie Veraart, NL IGF – ECP
Question 6: Provide the name of the organizer(s) of the open forum and their affiliation to various
stakeholder groups.(Please note that workshops are expected to adhere to the multi-stakeholder
principle, including geographical and gender diversity and to provide different perspectives on the
issues under discussion.)
Ministry of Economic Affairs of The Netherlands assisted by NL IGF and De Natris Consult