Romanian Ambassador Sorin-Dan Mihalache, SR Kyriakos Hadiyianni, SR Radu-Mihai Mihail and Deputy Minister Kyriacos Kokkinos, 26 May 2022NICOSIA, 27 May 2022 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on Digital Agenda, Romanian Senator Radu-Mihai Mihail, yesterday held several meetings in Nicosia, intended to learn about Cyprus’ digital, cyber and information security strategies and policies, to exchange views and lessons learned.
He met with Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Kyriacos Kokkinos; Commissioner of Communication George Michaelides, Director of the Digital Security Authority Antonis Antoniades, Chief Officer Diamandis Zafeiriades, and with the national CSIRT (Computer Security Incident Response Team). He also visited the House of Representatives of Cyprus and attended a plenary session of the parliament.
Discussions centered on Cyprus’s digital transformation over the recent years and action plans to achieve further goals. The interlocutors highlighted the fast progress made in areas such as connectivity, integration of digital technology in business, online digital services, and digital security. The meetings also focused on challenges still lying ahead, including low digital skills and literacy, the need to reform the educational system, to develop digitalization competency within the government and the overall digital infrastructure of the country.
Mihail, who serves as Head of the Romanian Delegation to the OSCE PA, also shared with the interlocutors Romania’s experience in these fields.
Exchanges also touched upon how the COVID-19 has accelerated digitalization and at the same time, however, diverted many resources that could have been allocated to the execution of the national digital strategy.
Meeting with Commissioner of Communication George Michaelides, DSA Director Antonis Antoniades and Chief Officer Diamandis Zafeiriades, 26 May 2022“I am positively impressed by Cyprus’s digital transformation efforts and the progress achieved in the last few years,” said Mihail. “I hope the authorities will capitalize on the momentum and the recent acceleration demanded by the pandemic and will adopt the necessary reforms to boost the country's digital capabilities and performance.”
“Co-operation between countries is crucial in ensuring the development of strong digital infrastructure and fast and efficient responses to cybersecurity attacks,” he added. “As parliamentarians and members of the OSCE PA, we can help raising awareness, increase information exchange and creating platforms of dialogue and networking.”
Senator Mihail was joined at the meetings by Special Representative on Civil Society Engagement Kyriakos Hadiyianni (Cyprus) and the Romanian Ambassador to Cyprus Sorin-Dan Mihalache.
For more on the work of the Special Representative on Digital Agenda, please click here.
