The Neretva group for cyber security
The Neretva group for cyber security is an open-type informal working group, which functions under the auspices of the OSCE Mission in BiH, with the support of EUD in BiH and EUSR in BiH.
The group gathers key practitioners and IT/cyber experts and representatives of the private and public sector from all levels of government in BiH, it includes state and entity institutions, agencies, banks, the energy and academic sectors, as well as young promising experts.
It is an incubator of much-needed action policies, initiatives and ideas in the field of cyber security, including the creation of Guidelines for the strategic framework of cyber security in B&H, the formation of public-private partnerships, and platforms and modules for e-learning. The cooperation and operation of the members of the Group led to concrete results that ensured progress in the cyber domain in BiH regardless of the challenging circumstances.
Under the auspices of the OSCE Mission in BiH, this group of relevant actors created Guidelines for the strategic framework of cyber security in B&H during 2018-2019. This landmark document on shared vision builds on the good practices of EU country strategies and Directive (EU) 2016/1148 (NIS), operationalizes the OSCE ICT/cyber Confidence-Building Measures and provides the basis for the development of much-needed cyber security strategies and action plans at different levels of government. The guidelines have a comprehensive concept and deal with the most important priority areas for improving cyber security in BiH in accordance with international standards.
After the formation and successful operation of the Neretva group for cyber security, a subgroup for the energy sector was formed, which is now developing the Roadmap for the implementation of EU Directive 2016/1148 in Bosnia and Herzegovina under the auspices of USAID. This is a significant step towards improving the protection of critical infrastructure and energy systems in BiH against cyber attacks.