Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

International Engagement Blog: Singapore International Cyber Week, the Regional Initiative for Cybersecurity Education and Training, and More

By: Amy Mahn

NIST has continued to collaborate into the fall season with partners throughout the world on the Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 update.  International engagement and alignment with international standards are important themes for the 2.0 update and will drive changes to ensure global relevance. 

As part of this ongoing international engagement, NIST welcomed visitors to the NCCoE and NIST headquarters to discuss various cybersecurity topics and explore areas for mutual collaboration.  In the past few weeks, NIST met with visitors from Italy, Singapore, New Zealand, Germany, and Brazil at the NCCoE.  NIST identified many areas for continued engagement with these stakeholders on a number of topics, including the CSF 2.0 update, IoT cybersecurity, cybersecurity workforce development, and the Privacy Framework.  NIST also met with representatives from Switzerland on next steps for engagement on the CSF 2.0 update.  

NIST joined the U.S. government delegation organized by the Department of State to Singapore International Cyber Week (SICW) in October.  In addition to attending events during SICW and joining U.S. government meetings, NIST presented at an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Coalition to Reduce Cyber Risk (CR2) on the Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0 update.  The event focused on the importance of international engagement and alignment and featured presentations from leadership from the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) and the Department of Defense (DOD).  The discussion also included a panel of industry participants that spoke to the importance of using risk-based, international standards-based approaches to cybersecurity risk management, such as the Cybersecurity Framework and associated international standards.  This event brought together stakeholders attending SICW and provided an opportunity for discussion on cybersecurity risk management and how to engage with NIST on the CSF 2.0 update, including upcoming opportunities to participate in CSF workshops and comment on concept papers and draft versions of the CSF.       

Following the visit to Singapore, NIST also joined the International Trade Administration’s Partnership for Growth and Innovation (PGI) dialogue with Singapore held in DC to continue discussions on important topic areas such as the CSF, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT) cybersecurity, and smart cities initiatives.  NIST also participated in a virtual event with Colombia following a visit in August 2022 in coordination with the State Department and ITA to discuss the CSF and Privacy Framework.  NIST also virtually participated in an event coordinated by ITA with Brazil that explored how tools like the CSF can be used to manage cybersecurity risks in an energy and power grid context. NIST also joined as roundtable virtually hosted by ITA with representatives from Mexico to discuss 5G cybersecurity and the ongoing work on the 5G security project at the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE).  NIST also spoke at a virtual event hosted in Thailand along with representatives from industry and Thai government on the CSF 2.0 update.

Our National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) team supported the Regional Initiative for Cybersecurity Education and Training (RICET) event on November 16, 2022.  RICET, hosted by Florida International University and the Organization of American States, is an effort to build and strengthen a foundation in cybersecurity education, training, and workforce for the Americas. The effort also helps to expand the NICE community and resource sharing. The event was live streamed in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French and showcased speakers from industry, academia, and government who provided insights on topics such as the cybersecurity labor market, pathways, and opportunities for career entry talent. In celebration of National Apprenticeship Week and the completion of the Department of Labor and Department of Commerce’s 120-day Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Sprint, the event also featured a spotlight on a current career-entry apprentice at the CSIRTAmericas Network. Learn more about RICET and access recordings of the presentations online.

NIST also recently participated in a recent iteration of the Austrian Leadership Programs (ALPS) which provided an excellent opportunity for networking and strengthening professional relationships while learning more about government and industry efforts in Austria.  Twenty-five people from twenty-two countries participated in the program, bringing unique insights about their own work into the conversations. The group had an opportunity to meet with leading representatives from public administration, politics, and public life in both Vienna and Graz.  

Stay tuned for more international engagement updates in the coming weeks!  Additional international resources continue to be posted on the International Cybersecurity and Privacy Resources page.  If you are aware of additional translations and resources to share, please reach out to us!

For questions or to discuss opportunities for international engagement, reach out to us at intl-cyber-privacy [at] nist.gov (intl-cyber-privacy[at]nist[dot]gov).

About the author

Amy Mahn

Amy Mahn is an international policy specialist in the NIST Applied Cybersecurity Division.  Amy’s primary focus in this role is support of the international aspects and alignment of the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. Amy previously worked eleven years at the Department of Homeland Security in various roles, including international policy coordination in cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection within the National Protection and Programs Directorate and the Office of Cyber, Infrastructure and Resilience Policy.

Comments

Add new comment

CAPTCHA
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Please be respectful when posting comments. We will post all comments without editing as long as they are appropriate for a public, family friendly website, are on topic and do not contain profanity, personal attacks, misleading or false information/accusations or promote specific commercial products, services or organizations. Comments that violate our comment policy or include links to non-government organizations/web pages will not be posted.