28th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum – Cybersecurity: Working With & Protecting Each Other

Hon. Allan Cabanlong emphasized that cybersecurity is no longer just a technical issue, but a matter concerning national security, economic stability, and societal resilience. In the face of cybersecurity challenges that transcend borders, response must be collective and strategic. The GFCE, established in 2015 in The Hague, Netherlands, is an international platform to find and support the partnerships and solutions that will close the cyber security capacity gap. The GFCE aims to avoid duplication of efforts by coordination, share knowledge and expertise, and match needs to offers for support. As of 2024, it has over 236 Member-states and Partners.

Among the services provided by GFCE are the Matchmaking Mechanism and the Cybil Portal. The GFCE Clearing House mechanism facilitates match-making between GFCE Members who have cyber capacity needs and GFCE Partners and implementers who can offer support. On the other hand, the Cybil Portal is a knowledge repository for cyber capacity building that hosts a large library of resources for governments, organizations or individuals working on cyber security issues.

Hon. Cabanlong underscored that due to the evolving digital landscape and the rise in sophisticated cybersecurity threats, there is a need for cybersecurity collaboration, particularly cross-sector collaboration with localized impact. Globally, cybersecurity issues include skills gap, fast technology evolution, and resource disparities. For the Philippines, these issues are compounded by limited expertise, underfunded research, and regulatory hurdles. By connecting governments and organization experts, GFCE ensures that all countries, regardless of their cybersecurity maturity have the knowledge, tools, and partnerships necessary to build cybersecurity resilience.