15 Oct 2020

October: Cyber Security Month

October is the month that has been designated for cyber security awareness all around the globe. In the EU, the European Cybersecurity Month (ECSM) is the annual campaign dedicated to promoting cybersecurity among citizens and organisations, and to providing up-to-date online security information through awareness raising and sharing of good practices. With this in mind, the e-Governance Academy has prepared two podcasts and shared one article related to this overarching topic. We invite you to visit these freely available resources at your leisure.

Podcast: What should governments do to secure their national cyber space?

On 07.10.2020 Raul Rikk, National Cybersecurity Policy Director at Estonia’s Government CIO office, discussed the role of government in ensuring cybersecurity for everyone.

Article: When Sovereignty Leads and Cyber Law Follows

On 13.10.2020 Paul Timmers, Member of the eGA’s Supervisory Board, wrote about the sovereignty debate in the EU, which can inspire the revision of the EU NIS Directive and even provide insight into future changes to EU Treaties.

Podcast: Risks and opportunities in voting on the internet

On 14.10.2020, Liisa Past and Epp Maaten, two experts in cyber security and electronic voting, delved deep into the challenges and breakthroughs of making digital solutions common practice in elections.

16 Sep 2020

National Cyber Security in Practice - the Handbook

Cyber security has been a very important area for Estonia as a digital state, both domestically and in international cooperation. There are several international standards and guidelines for developing the cyber security of a single organisation, but it is difficult to find comprehensive tools for national governments. The e-Governance Academy has published a handbook – National Cyber Security in Practice – designed to fill that gap.

The articles, written by seasoned experts, will give the reader an overview of the key elements that underpin the cyber security architecture of any country. This handbook is aimed at policymakers, legislative experts and anyone responsible for ensuring the functioning and protection of digital services and services essential for the functioning of society.

7 Aug 2020

Barriers, Lessons Learnt, and Interesting Facts of the NCSI

A bit more than two months ago we reached another milestone in the NCSI by having 160 countries ranked. It is not an easy task and we couldn’t have done it without the participation and collaboration of an international network of volunteers. Nevertheless, our team only includes more than 110 contributors from 77 countries. How did we actually manage to reach 160 countries in the NCSI? This blog post explains the behind the scenes of the NCSI: the barriers, lessons learnt and interesting facts of the management of this Index. 

17 Jul 2020

Bangladesh improves its position in the NCSI

Bangladesh has been updated with the latest information provided by the corresponding government officials/contributors. The improvements are related to the cyber security policy coordination format, the cyber threats analysis unit, and the establishment of a single point of contact for international coordination. This permitted Bangladesh to reposition itself from the 90+ to the 74th in the Index. We thank our country contributors for their constant support in keeping the country’s data up-to-date.

13 Jun 2020

Belgium and North Macedonia updated

Government officials contributed information to update Belgium’s indicators. Since its previous update, it has improved in cyber security policy development, protection of digital services and essential services, cyber incidents response and military cyber operations. This update has bumped Belgium from 25+ to the 6th position.

North Macedonia has been updated with the latest information we have been able to find through public data collection. Since its previous update, it has improved in cyber security policy development, protection of digital services, e-ID and trust services. North Macedonia increased from the 71st to the 63rd position.

20 May 2020

160 countries in the NCSI: four updates (GB, GH, GR, PT) and eight new entries (AE, AO, AT, IR, KH,

The United Kingdom, Ghana, and Portugal have been updated with the latest information we have been able to find through public data collection. Greece has once again submitted fresh information through their corresponding government officials/contributors.

With the introduction of the United Arab Emirates, Angola, Austria, Iran, Cambodia, Myanmar, Syria and Yemen, the NCSI now has 160 countries ranked.

The United Arab Emirates almost fully completes the education and professional development, the e-ID and trust services, the cyber incidents response and the fight against cybercrime capacities. Angola presents personal data protection measure and legislation regarding cyber security responsibility for digital service providers. Austria completes the cyber security policy development, the protection of personal data and the fight against cybercrime capacities, while gaining high scores as well for education, professional development, e-ID, trust services and cyber incidents response. Iran debuts with a CERT, a cyber security policy unit and cyber security professional association.

Cambodia is introduced with an almost full cyber incidents response capacity and with e-signature legislation. Myanmar has a CERT, a cyber security professional association and legislation referring to electronic signatures. Syria displays some cyber threat analysis and information practices, in addition to a cyber incidents response unit, and e-signature legislation, with its corresponding competent supervisory authority. Yemen presents personal data protection and e-signature legislation, and a cyber incidents response unit.

20 Apr 2020

Ten updates (AF, BJ, BT, CI, GE, ID, IN, KI, MG, NP) and two new entries (AM, HR)

Afghanistan, Benin, Bhutan, Côte d'Ivoire, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Madagascar, and Nepal have been updated with the latest information we have been able to find through public data collection.

Armenia and Croatia have been introduced in the NCSI. Armenia presents evidence for all indicators relate to the fight against cybercrime and the protection of personal data.  Additionally, evidence for education, contribution to global cyber security, e-ID and trust services is also available. Croatia debuts with full indicators in the protection of digital services and personal data, cyber incident response, fight against cybercrime, military cyber operations, cyber security policy development, and cyber threat analysis and information. It also receives high marks in the protection of essential services, cyber crisis management, e-ID and trust services.