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.

World-Economic-Forum-Workshop-AGENDA.pdf

Other news and events

Upcoming

CyberPulse 2025: A Regional RCC Cybersecurity Conference

The Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C) is pleased to co-host WB CyberPulse 2025, a high-level regional cybersecurity conference taking place on 2 July 2025 in Podgorica. Organised in partnership with the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the European Commission (EC), the event will bring together key actors from across the Western Balkans and the EU to advance the region’s cyber resilience.

The conference will gather ministers, CERT/CIRT/CSIRT teams, EU institutions, international organisations, financial institutions, private sector leaders and civil society to engage in a structured and forward-looking dialogue.

WB CyberPulse 2025 will focus on:

Addressing current gaps in regional cyber capacities
Exploring the role of emerging technologies
Operationalising joint initiatives and partnerships

As a regional platform for cooperation and knowledge exchange, this conference represents an important step forward in aligning cybersecurity efforts with EU standards and building a more secure digital future for the Western Balkans.

Digital skills for cadets of the Montenegro Police Academy

This week, WB3C is delivering a tailored training on Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) for the second group of 10 cadets from the Police Academy in Danilovgrad, Montenegro. The training follows a recent WB3C visit to the Academy to better understand its curriculum and infrastructure needs.

With limited coverage of digital investigation methods in the Academy’s existing curriculum, WB3C has launched a series of hands-on sessions to build critical skills in cyber-enabled policing. A third group is already scheduled for training in December.

The training was opened by Academy Director Nenad Vojinovic and Head of WB3C Gilles Schwoerer, who explained the importance of digital skills in criminal investigation today and encouraged the cadets to embrace the digital dimension of modern law enforcement.

The course is highly practical and interactive and provides the cadets with techniques to find, extract and preserve open-source evidence in lawful ways. The training is led by WB3C in-house trainers Yannick Casse of the French Gendarmerie and Cyril C. of the French National Police who have substantial experience in the field.

WB3C is very pleased to be able to develop this relationship with the Montenegro Police Academy and contribute to the development of national capacities in tackling cyber crime.

WB3C Mission to Sarajevo

As part of its ongoing commitment to strengthening regional cooperation in cybersecurity, the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C) conducted a two-day mission to Sarajevo on 19–20 June.

The visit focused on engaging key national stakeholders who are already benefiting from WB3C training programmes, as well as identifying opportunities for deeper collaboration.

WB3C met with the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Delegation of the European Union, and the Directorate for European Integration to discuss the Centre’s strategic role in supporting regional capacity building and BiH’s participation in EU-aligned cyber initiatives. These discussions emphasized the importance of shared ownership, sustainability, and the active involvement of beneficiary institutions in shaping the Centre’s future direction.

As a follow-up to our May dialogue, WB3C also held a productive meeting with the Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Education of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to assess ongoing training needs and explore tailored programme development for judicial actors.