An Italian-Lithuanian round table on cybersecurity, which took place in hybrid form on 19 October in Vilnius, was opened by the Italian Ambassador to Lithuania, Diego Ungaro. This was the first initiative on this specific subject and allowed the participants to deepen their mutual knowledge of national information security systems and to assess the opportunities for collaboration, both within the framework of the international institutions, especially the EU and NATO, and in terms of the development of industrial capacity and university education in the sector.
Speakers included the Director of the East European Studies Center Linas Kojala; the Italian Undersecretary for Defence Giorgio Mule’, who spoke about the Italian cybersecurity system and expressed his hope that the event might be repeated; the Lithuanian Deputy Minister for National Defence Margiris Abukevicius, who mentioned the topic of “Trusted suppliers” (for 5G technology and telecommunications). At the round table, among others, the Lithuanian Ambassador Mindaugas Butkus (Head of the Cyber Unit of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) stressed the importance of bilateral relations and the role of NGOs, while the Italian Ambassador Laura Carpini (Head of the Cyber Unit of the Foreign Ministry) focused on the Italian national contribution to the EU common efforts including the Mediterranean dimension, the action programme in the UN framework, the interaction with the private and academic sectors.
Among the topics discussed at the round table sessions, national defence in the cyber field and possible synergies, the presentation of UN, EU and NATO perspectives, industrial developments (development and industrial interests / protection of critical infrastructures), training and university research.
Finally, Ambassador Ungaro underlined how the numerous presentations were interconnected within a holistic system and expressed the hope for subsequent opportunities for further bilateral discussions, between Italy and Lithuania, on cyber security.
