Cyberspace forms the heart of any country for its overall development. The need for cyber capacity building has been recognized by the cyber community, public and private entities. The internet is considered as a complete threat to nation unless the safety and security of the digital environment are well established. There is no single tool to completely combat the threats posed in cyberspace. However, a collective and collaborative effort in the capacity building becomes very crucial in ensuring countries can fully harness the benefits of ICTs for development.

“Cyber capacity building” is a word that the government and other actors love to throw around. But like other terms in the cyber universe, it covers the issue and its precise meaning is often unclear. Context is important. In some situations, the term might refer to the effectiveness and also security of technologies while in others it might mean confidence building between states.

Despite its vagueness, it has become a popular buzzword and it has made into the government agendas throughout the world. From a development perspective, the United Nations defines capacity as “the ability to perform functions, solve problems and achieve objectives.” The capacity building aims to improve these abilities at different levels of individual, institutional and societal. Most of the people consider cyberspace as the central nervous system of our personal, professional or economic life.

From an evolutionary point of view, cyber capacity building has three common applications. The first is digital literacy, which knows how to use information technologies. An example of the capacity building here could be helping a school or university to develop a course on developing computer skills. The second is digital development least describes digitization of administrative processes and services by governments and the private sectors.

These are often aimed at creating new opportunities for participation and also for strengthening the market. For example, the digitization of public services likes libraries or consumer platforms. And the third is the ICT4D or ICT for Development. This refers to ways that information and communication technologies can be used to support development goals, particularly those related to social, political and economic development.

As with the confidence and security-building measures, the thing to be emphasized is that cyber capacity building is much more than just a one-off event or training. It should be a comprehensive human rights-based process that ensures learning and understanding, which allows time for reflection and forming positions on the issues involved. The result will be a group of people who are confident in their ability to engage in policymaking that considers all aspects in issue from security to culture, development to legislation. This understanding of cyber capacity building allows us to design comprehensive and empowering security solutions, effective approach to good governance and policies which make full use of the benefits of the digital age.

However, this becomes a matter for human rights defenders. After all, everything is about development and not security. Cybersecurity is the preservation of availability, confidentiality and integrity of information and its underlying infrastructure to enhance the security of persons both online and offline. All of these things are for obvious reasons crucial to the enjoyment of human rights and they are just as pertinent to cyber capacity building initiatives focused on development as to anything else. These initiatives however worthy often involve the collection, storage and analysis of large amounts of data which opens them up to potential abuse.

They may involve the digitization of formally slow offline processes like moving visa application services online rather than queuing in different departments. If these large confidential data stored without adequate potential or misused by the members in charge the human rights are put at risk. While an education initiative might teach more people to code, it might not teach them how to do it ethically. And just because a capacity-building initiative is development-focused, it can still end up focusing on the capacity of systems and states rather than capacities of individuals.

Human rights defenders must therefore have a crucial role to play ensuring these initiatives are conducted in line with human rights and ethical standards from the very beginning.

Cyber capacity building initiatives are being put in place nationally, regionally and internationally across a range of different forums. Major confidence and security-building measures are being developed by the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and others. Aside from these, more development-focused action plans are being adopted at the regional and international level by organizations such as the African Union, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the Organization for the American States, the Association of Southeast Asian Nation and G7.

However, none of these initiatives has yet agreed to a common understanding of the cyber capacity building led alone one based on human rights. Even the UN Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015 not to achieve these. They include activities which are to the further cyber capacity building but as legally binding there is a risk that these activities will translate into action on a large scale. Similarly, a range of capacity building programs launched by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the African Development Bank aims to support regional or national cyber capacity-building efforts. 

However, they are coordinated or designed with the different input from different stakeholders preventing full buying. It is vital to make sure this capacity building initiative takes a comprehensive approach that looks at all considerations in this emerging field including security, human rights, education and trade.

Many state initiatives understand capacity building in terms of digital development and digital literacy. For example, Bangladesh national initiative, Digital Bangladesh, aims to use ICTs to digitize government administration and public services, roll out digital educational materials and ensure low-cost broadband across the country. However, as these effects often lack inclusive policy-making processes, they ensure fully tackling the issue and mainly address the risk to human rights. For example, part of digital Bangladesh initiatives included a re-launch of government websites which resulted in the accidental publication of sensitive contact information of thousands of employees.

Another example from Nepal uses the ICT4D approach to cyber capacity building; it shows how technologies can be used in support of developmental and social goals. A local NGO organized a series of capacity building events to help address gender inequality, violence and aggression against women and strengthen the digital literacy of civil society. The efforts resulted in the creation of the app called “self-help” which allowed users to send emergency messages to family and friends along with their GPS position.

Data could then securely forward to relevant authorities providing care and services. This initiative successfully used technology to address the significant social problem in the country. It addresses issues by raising awareness, creating a practical tour and fostering a multi-stakeholder relationship. This example shows how multi- stakeholders’ capacity-building effects that take a comprehensive rights-based approach to problems which can bring practical solutions.

There are other initiatives  which include the Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre, the Alliance for Affordable Internet, Fast African Campaign web Foundation and programs run by the Association for Progressive Communication, Open Knowledge Foundation, the DIPLO foundation and Mozilla foundation. These all contribute to human rights-based understanding of education and development within the field of cyber capacity building and all of them should be fully supported.

Cyber capacity building is still a new field. For human rights defenders, this can be both an opportunity and an obstacle for engagement. The good news is that no one has set the rules yet. ICT can be a powerful tool for economic and social development, and human rights around the world. Civil society can play an important role in making sure these initiatives are designed in thoughtful and locally relevant ways.

But debates on the cyber capacity building are often very narrow focusing on building the capacity of states and the stability and the security of their systems. Challenging this approach will only be possible if the human rights defenders starry setting agendas. This is possible by taking part in debates in international debate platforms to ensure human rights and development considerations are part of all cyber capacity-building projects. Take part in capacity building initiatives to have an enhanced understanding of the cyber-related issues to engage critically in debates. Use technology to get around traditional obstacles to capacity building, funds, time and travel. A mixture of online and offline initiatives can cut cost, create flexible learning formats and bring people from all around the world.