WB3C partners with World Economic Forum

19.05.2025

The Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Center (WB3C) is proud to announce its collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to host the region’s first Cyber Capacity Building Workshop on 19-20 May 2025 in Podgorica. This high-level gathering will convene global experts and regional stakeholders to strengthen the Western Balkans’ cybersecurity resilience through two critical streams: addressing the cyber talent shortage and enhancing collaborative strategies against cybercrime.

A Convergence of Global and Regional Expertise

The workshop will feature contributions from an exceptional roster of international and regional leaders, including:

Opening remarks: Mr Gilles Schwoerer, WB3C Programme Director

Keynote Speaker: Mr Marash Dukaj, Minister of Public Administration of Montenegro

Opening panel: Cybersecurity in the Western Balkans: Bridging global practices with local needs

Dušan Polović, General Director at the Directorate for Infrastructure, Information Security, Digitalization and E-services at the Ministry of Public Administration (Montenegro)

Rob Rashotte, Vice-President, Global Training and Technical Field Enablement, Fortinet (Canada)

Jelena Zelenovic Matone, Chief Information Security Officer, European Investment Bank (Luxembourg)

Samuel Hassine, Chief Executive Officer, Filigran (France)

Ivan Bošković, President of e-Commerce Association of Montenegro

Moderator: Nataša Perućica, Lead for Capacity Building, Centre for Cybersecurity, World Economic Forum

Stream 1: Addressing the Cyber Talent Shortage

- Nataša Perućica, Lead for Capacity Building, Centre for Cybersecurity, World Economic Forum

- Dana Berman, Manager, Strategic Business Development & Marketing - Cybersecurity Services, Check Point Software Technologies (Israel)

- Denise Cassidy, EMEA Security HR Lead, Accenture (Ireland)

- Giuseppe Cinque, Principal Architect, Cisco Digital Impact Office, Cisco Systems (Italy)

- Reza Elgalai, Université Technologique de Troyes (France)

- Rob Rashotte, Vice-President, Global Training and Technical Field Enablement, Fortinet (Canada)

- Abdullah Albaiz, General Manager for Human Capital Development, National Cybersecurity Authority of Saudi Arabia

- Grace Boyling, Senior Policy Advisor on International Cyber Skills, UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

- Mark Mannheim, Programme Manager, Cybersecurity and Digital Identity Directorate, UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

- Jakub Olszewski, Head of Skills Academies, Standard Chartered Bank (United Kingdom)

Stream 2: Collaborative Strategies Against Cybercrime

- Sean Doyle, Cybercrime Atlas Initiative, World Economic Forum Centre for Cybersecurity

- Alex Wloch, Senior Analyst, Active Threat Monitoring, Standard Chartered Bank (United Kingdom)

- Céline Louyat, Inspector, Public Finance, AGRASC (France)

- Livia Tirbina, Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst, Sekoia.io (France)

- James Gill, Global Head, Cyber Threat Response, Banco Santander (Spain)

- Jakub Olszewski, Head of Skills Academies, Standard Chartered Bank (United Kingdom)

- Jelena Zelenovic Matone, Chief Information Security Officer, European Investment Bank (Luxembourg)

- Paul-Alexandre Gillot, J-CAT Coordinator, Europol EC3 (France)

- Samuel Hassine, CEO, Filigran (France)

Why This Workshop Matters

Recent data reveals alarming trends in the Western Balkans:

- A 40% increase in cyber incidents since 2023

- A 200% surge in ransomware attacks between 2022-2024

- A critical shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals

This workshop will tackle these challenges head-on by:

- Developing actionable strategies to attract, train, and retain cybersecurity talent in the region

- Strengthening operational collaboration between law enforcement, governments, and private sector leaders

- Aligning regional efforts with global frameworks like WEF’s Strategic Cybersecurity Talent Framework and Cybercrime Disruption Framework

Join the Conversation

While attendance is by invitation only, organizations interested in contributing to the Western Balkans’ cybersecurity resilience efforts are encouraged to contact us for more information on info@wb3c.org.

Downloads:

World-Economic-Forum-Workshop-AGENDA.pdf

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.