The World Summit on the Information Society is the largest global event in the field of the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the development of society, attended by ministers from around the world, together with companies, organisations, institutes and other stakeholders. The meeting takes place remotely in the form of a number of panels between 22 and 26 March 2021.

The purpose of the event is to provide a forum for discussion between different stakeholders on the role of ICT in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, an evaluation of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the World Summit of Action Plan on the Information Society.

Cyber security is crucial to ensuring universal, reliable and equitable access to connectivity. While the use of ICT enables better governance and higher productivity, the use of digital systems creates risks. Cyber threats and cyber-attacks pose increasing security challenges for the public and private sectors in all countries. Strengthening the confidence framework, including information and network security, authentication, privacy and consumer protection, is a prerequisite for the development of the information society and for building trust among ICT users. Developing a global culture of cybersecurity in cooperation with all stakeholders and international professional bodies, and taking into account the level of social and economic development of each country, is essential to ensure data security and privacy and to improve access to them.

Minister of Public Administration Boštjan Koritnik participated the High-Level Policy Session 5: Building Confidence and Security in the use of ICTs. In the context of Slovenia’s preparations for the EU Council Presidency in the second half of this year, Minister Koritnik answered the question on cyber security and critical information infrastructure protection at EU level.

At the outset, he said that the pandemic had accelerated digitisation and revealed the shortcomings and risks of digital infrastructure, and pointed out that democracy and human rights depend to a large extent on how well a country can protect itself against cyber attacks,…