Strengthening European Cybersecurity Collaboration: Highlights from Two COcyber Events
On June 12th and 13th, COcyber hosted two distinct but complementary events, each aimed at advancing cross-sector collaboration and strengthening Europe’s cybersecurity resilience. The first event took place in Vilnius with a focus on critical infrastructure protection, while the second was held online and dedicated to validating best practices in civil-defence cooperation.
Cybersecurity Capacity Building at Lithuania’s Electricity Transmission System Operator, Litgrid
On 12 June, our partner Infobalt organised an in-person event at the premises of Litgrid, Lithuania’s electricity transmission system operator. The event included presentations, a guided technical visit to Litgrid’s dispatch control room, and a joint discussion addressing key challenges in the digital and cybersecurity landscape.
Speakers included Donatas Matelionis, Roma Oškutienė, Darius Šoparas, Jelena Koškarova, Monika Gikaraitė, Milda Savickaitė, and Virgilijus Dirma. Among the topics tackled, the role of digital protection tools, the persistent skills gap in cybersecurity, and the importance of trust-based information sharing between public and private actors.
Participants had the opportunity to hear from representatives of Litgrid and cybersecurity experts, who shared practical insights on national energy resilience and digital risk mitigation. A live demonstration of the DARSIS solution illustrated how advanced technologies are being implemented to protect critical systems in real-world conditions.
The event also provided space to introduce the COcyber project and its ambition to foster structured collaboration among diverse cybersecurity actors. Through the discussion, a shared understanding emerged of the urgent need to combine technical expertise with strategic dialogue in order to address the evolving threat landscape.
Validating Best Practices in Cybersecurity and Civil-Defence Cooperation
The following day, on 13 June 2025, COcyber partner Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) hosted an online consultation focused on identifying and validating best practices in cybersecurity cooperation between civilian and defence sectors across the EU. The consultation brought together 27 participants, including COcyber Ambassadors, Advisory Board members, and external experts from related European projects.
The purpose of the session was to review and evaluate a shortlist of 20 practices selected for their relevance to civil-defence cooperation challenges. Moderated by Georges Ataya, the session followed an interactive format in which participants scored each practice using predefined criteria such as impact, replicability, and strategic alignment. Based on these scores, ten high-impact practices will be shortlisted for further development and integration into COcyber’s community platform.
The consultation also included a reflection segment, where participants discussed key patterns, raised critical questions, and contributed observations to contextualise the final outcomes. This format ensured collective expert input and created a space for knowledge exchange and mutual learning.
Participants in the consultation were offered the opportunity to contribute additional best practices for inclusion in the COcyber platform, and were also informed about upcoming capacity-building and networking opportunities planned under the project.