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

Protection of Critical Infrastructure Training for IT teams

Three days of intensive training (9-11 Sep 2025) on the protection of critical infrastructure wrapped up in Podgorica this week at the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C) premises. The training explored vulnerabilities of critical systems such as energy, transport, healthcare and water supply, and delivered practical sessions on risk management, ICS/OT security and incident response. This program brought together IT officers from across the Western Balkans public sector.
The highlight of the final day was a Capture the Flag (CTF) challenge, where participants applied the response skills in a competitive but collaborative setting. A special moment worth noting: first and third place went to women participants (from Albania and Kosovo*). This shows the strength of diverse teams and why we remain committed to encouraging more women in cybersecurity.
We thank our excellent partners Urad Vlade Republike Slovenije za informacijsko varnost (URSIV, Slovenia), Igor Kovač and Gregor Spagnolo for delivering such high-level expertise and engaging sessions.
The training closed with a certificate ceremony and closing remarks by Gilles Schwoerer, with lots of smiles, great vibes and a strong sense of community.

EU Legislation and Public Sector Standards for Cyber

This week in Bar, Montenegro, DCAF - Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance and Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA) and Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C) jointly delivered a three-day regional training on cybersecurity legislation and public-sector standards.
The event gathered representatives from across the Western Balkans’ public administrations — an opportunity to connect networks, exchange practices, and strengthen a common regional approach to cybersecurity capacity. The programme was funded by the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with Melanie Moffat from the British Embassy Podgorica attending the training.

Day 1 opened with remarks from Franziska Klopfer (DCAF) and Gilles Schwoerer (Head of WB3C). In his opening address, Gilles underlined that WB3C is not just a centre in Podgorica, but a regional platform designed as a resource for the entire Western Balkans — built for the region, to be used by the region. The day continued with sessions on EU legislation and certification frameworks, including insights into Italy’s cybersecurity architecture and the functions of the Italian National Cybersecurity Agency (Agenzia per la Cybersicurezza Nazionale).
🔹 Day 2 brought a broader audience, as more participants from the ReSPA network joined. Bojana Bajić (ReSPA) joined Franziska and Gilles in addressing the group, stressing the importance of cooperation across institutions in the process of advancing cybersecurity capabilities and aligning normative frameworks with EU standards. Participants then heard from the National Cybersecurity Authority of Greece, explored digital competencies for public administration, and worked on designing cybersecurity training curricula for civil servants, IT staff, and managers.
🔹 On Day 3, the sessions will turn to national practices, with contributions from Serbia’s National Academy for Public Administration and the Civil Service Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, offering concrete models for embedding cybersecurity into public administration training systems.
Together with DCAF and ReSPA, and with the support of FCDO, this training strengthened the foundations for a more resilient public sector across the Western Balkans, aligned with the region’s needs and EU accession priorities.

Building relationships with regional institutions

Strengthening regional cybersecurity capacity starts with strong relationships. At Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C), we prioritise working closely with our beneficiaries and stakeholders across the Western Balkans.
To that end, we continue our regional outreach, meeting our partners in person to better understand their priorities and explore opportunities for cooperation.
This time, our trainers Yannick Casse and Cyril C. visited Prishtina and Skopje, where they met with key counterparts from the Ministries of Interior and Justice. The visit highlighted concrete prospects for future collaboration.
Synergies were also identified with UNDP Kosovo* (OSINT, Dark Web training) and Home Affairs Programme of European Union (HAPE) in Kosovo*, further expanding the scope for joint work.
While the majority of WB3C training activities are delivered from our Podgorica Centre, we remain open to relocating select trainings across the region upon request.

Through this outreach, WB3C ensures its training offer remains flexible and tailored to the evolving needs of our beneficiaries across the region.