COcyber Toolkit for the Organisation of Know-How and Information-Sharing Activities

To support stronger collaboration between Europe’s civilian and defence cybersecurity communities, the COcyber project has released a new strategic resource: the Toolkit for the Organisation of Know-How and Information-Sharing Activities (Deliverable D4.3). Developed under Work Package 4 by The Lisbon Council and partners, this practical guide is designed to help both consortium members and external stakeholders plan, deliver, and report high-impact activities across the cybersecurity ecosystem.

The document offers a unified framework for organising events that facilitate knowledge exchange, stakeholder engagement, and cross-sector trust-building, all core pillars of COcyber’s mission.

                                                     Check the full toolkit

Tackling the Cybersecurity Community Needs

At its core, the document recognises that cybersecurity challenges are complex and interconnected. Fragmentation of governance, uncoordinated policies, limited cross-sector collaboration, lack of innovation, and skill shortages all continue to hinder progress. Drawing on previous COcyber analyses (notably Deliverables D2.2 and D5.1), this section maps eight key community needs and shows how each one can be addressed through specific activity types and stakeholder engagement, identifying:

• Six types of activities: including high-level tech roundtables, cybersecurity consultations, policy workshops, research seminars, capacity-building sessions, and structured dialogues
• Five main stakeholder groups: cybersecurity professionals, public authorities, private sector actors, SMEs and startups, and academic and training institutions
• Six thematic areas: cyber resilience, post-quantum cryptography, cybersecurity governance, European digital cooperation, dual-use cybersecurity applications, human factors in cybersecurity.

The mapping ensures that each activity is targeted, relevant, and aligned with strategic community gaps.

COcyber Toolkit for Organising In-Person Know-How and Information-Sharing Activities

This is the operational heart of the document. It walks organisers through every step of preparing and delivering an in-person activity. The guidelines cover strategic timing (e.g., aligning events with EU policy moments), selecting the right venue and setup, ensuring accessibility and technical readiness, and managing both live and hybrid formats. Special attention is given to content delivery like  briefing speakers, using COcyber-branded visuals, and creating space for active engagement. 

Communication is also addressed in three phases: before, during, and after the event. Practical templates — such as activity proposals, session structures, speaker briefs, and blogpost formats — are included to make planning smoother and more consistent across the consortium.  

Conclusion

Deliverable D4.3 offers a shared foundation for organising events across the COcyber network. By linking real-world cybersecurity needs to practical formats and stakeholder engagement strategies, it helps ensure that every activity contributes to a stronger, more coordinated European cybersecurity landscape. The toolkit is meant to be used and adapted, both during the project and beyond, as a lasting asset for collaboration.