Our Research

The relevance of research on cybersecurity capacity building is growing with the significance of the Internet, social media and related cyber technologies in societies. The increasing use of the Internet and related information and communication technologies and their application in private and public areas has driven the need to protect cyberspace. All actors need to understand which cybersecurity practices and policies are the most efficient and effective in protecting digital resources and related physical assets. The Challenge section explains in more detail the cybersecurity challenges that our research aims to tackle.

The objective of the GCSCC research is to extend knowledge on the cybersecurity capacity of nations from a multidisciplinary and inclusive perspective. Our research approach includes as many nations, social sectors, policy practitioners, and stakeholders as possible to help to inform policy-making (see Our Approach section). Considering the broad concept of cybersecurity, our research seeks to take a holistic view and involve different research themes such as national policy and strategy, defence, social and cultural aspects, educational frameworks, training and skills, legal and regulatory frameworks, standards, organisations, and technologies. This research benefits from bringing qualitative and quantitative data to bear on different dimensions of cybersecurity collected in different nations (see The CMM section). Moreover, our research aims to understand the risks that our societies face if cybersecurity is not prioritized through cybersecurity capacity building. This has led to another complementary research theme on cyber harms, where cases of cyber-attacks are identified and studied to understand the nature and extent of their harms to individuals, organizations and society (see The Cyber Harm Framework section).

Overall, our research develops academic papers, datasets, case studies, reports, and other documents to contribute to global understanding of the broad range of efforts required to build cybersecurity capacity at all levels. For more information on our research outcomes, visit the Publications section.