WB3C at the International Girls in ICT Day 2025 Panel

24.04.2025

Our Senior Project Manager, Vanja Madzgalj MBE, had the honour of speaking at a distinguished panel organised by Europe House, WeBalkans, and Women4Cyber Montenegro, in celebration of International hashtag#GirlsinICTDay 2025. The panel brought together some of Montenegro’s most prominent women leaders in tech:
· Valentina Radulović, Director of the Science and Technology Park
· Jasna Pejovic Pejović, Founder of hashtag#Flourish, recognized as one of top 15 EdTech solutions in US.
· Ana Nives Radovic, leading figure in fintech and blockchain, and a game developer with a remarkable academic and artistic background
· Andreja Mihailovic, PhD, Doctor of Law and President of Women4Cyber Montenegro, a tireless advocate of gender equality and promoter of women in ICT.

As someone who transitioned into the tech and cybersecurity field after a long-standing career in education, creative industries and international cooperation, Vanja Madzgalj MBE spoke about how strategic leadership, community building experience and lifelong micro-learning supported her shift into a new sector.

At the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C), she now leads on strategic communications and brand development, helping to position the Centre as a regional driver of cyber resilience and EU integration efforts in the Western Balkans.

In her message to young women she highlighted that:

·        The tech sector thrives on diverse talents — not only engineers, but also educators, policy experts, creatives and communicators.
·        Adaptability, creativity and life-long learning are essential to sustainable career growth.
·        Having a clear goal and professional direction empowers us to shape our paths with purpose, rather than leaving it to chance.

At WB3C, we believe that diversity in the tech sector is not just an organisational imperative — it is a societal one. And yet, real change often begins with small, strategic steps: a decision to learn, to connect and to speak up. Because tech is not only about code. It is about people — people with vision, creativity and resilience.

WB3C proudly supports gender equality in cybersecurity — and we remain committed to creating space for more women to shape our digital future.

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Other news and events

Combatting Disinformation and FIMI

A very productive meeting this morning with the Atlantic Council of Montenegro, led by Mr. Savo Kentera, President and CEO, together with his team Azra Karastanović and Draško Jabučanin. The Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C) was represented by its Head Gilles Schwoerer and the team: Vanja Madzgalj MBE, Cyril C. and Yannick Casse.

Building on our previous engagements, including the national Round Table on Critical Infrastructure and the 2BS Forum, WB3C is further strengthening this collaboration to address pressing regional challenges.

Our discussions highlighted significant common interests in two crucial areas: critical infrastructure resilience and countering disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI).

This prospective partnership reflects a shared commitment to strengthening regional security and societal resilience against interference and information manipulation. We look forward to developing concrete actions and contributing meaningfully to these important efforts.

Developing Future Cyber Talent Through Early Interventions in Schools

WB3C paid a visit to the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation this week. We met with the State Secretary Calasan Tatjana to introduce WB3C’s work and share an overview of our plans for 2026, with a focus on education, young people and cooperation with universities. We talked about practical ways to support foundational awareness and cyber skills in schools and development of academic learning pathways such as micro-credentials and new degree programmes in cybersecurity and digital forensics in universities.

The meeting was also a chance to update the Ministry on how WB3C is developing as an international organization and how our role in Montenegro and the region is growing, as well as to explore how we could work more closely in the future.
We appreciated the open and constructive exchange, and the shared understanding that investing early in digital skills and cyber awareness really matters.
Looking forward to continuing the conversation and building on this momentum.

Cyber Hygiene Training for Ministry of European Affairs of Montenegro

Today we start a short CyberHygiene training for colleagues at Montenegro’s Ministry of European Affairs. The training is led by WB3C-s in-house trainers Cyril C. and Yannick Casse.
Over the two days, we will work through the threats civil servants face most often — phishing, malware/ransomware and social engineering — and the practical habits that reduce risk without needing to advance technical skills such as: safer daily practices, data confidentiality and clear incident response basics.
A reminder worth repeating: cyber hygiene is organizational hygiene. Firewalls and policies help, but day-to-day resilience is built in small decisions made across the institution. Every civil servant counts.
A simple checklist that pays off:
⚠️ Pause before you click (especially “urgent” emails)
⚠️ Use strong passwords/passphrases + multi-factor authentication where available
⚠️ Keep devices and apps updated
⚠️ Report suspicious activity early—speed matters

Director Gilles Schwoerer greeted the participants by emphasizing that cybersecurity culture doesn’t start in the IT department, but it starts in each inbox. We are very pleased to welcome the behind-the-scenes force driving Montenegro's successful advancement towards the EU accession and to share that WB3C is expecting its first multi-year EU grant in March this year, aimed at supporting the region in meeting the requirements from the cyber agenda and strengthening its overall resilience, especially its critical infrastructure. We look forward to joining forces with ministries around the region in 2026 - a year expected to bring a dynamic plan of activities.