The Learning Lab of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation hosted on Thursday 29 July 2021 a meeting between journalists specialising in digital affairs and Mr Ouanilo MEDEGAN FAGLA, Director General of the National Information Systems Security Agency (ANSSI).
The Learning Lab of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation hosted on Thursday 29 July 2021 a meeting between journalists specialising in digital affairs and Mr Ouanilo MEDEGAN FAGLA, Director General of the National Information Systems Security Agency (ANSSI).
The discussions focused on Benin's ranking in the 2020 Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) report, and on the reforms and actions undertaken by the Government to turn Benin into a safe destination in terms of cybersecurity. Ranked 149th in 2017 and 80th in 2018, Benin is 56th out of 194 countries in 2020. Produced and published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), this composite index is used to analyse States' commitment to cybersecurity and to raising their populations' awareness of it. In addition to its progress in the international ranking, Benin stands out at continental level, moving from 33rd place in 2017 to 8th place in 2018, then 6th out of the 44 African countries assessed in 2020.
Before an audience eager to understand what had earned Benin this breakthrough in the ITU ranking, Mr Ouanilo MEDEGAN FAGLA reviewed all the reforms and actions implemented in recent years by the Government of Benin, namely:
- The adoption and promulgation of Law No. 2017-20 on the Digital Code in the Republic of Benin;
- The creation of bjCSIRT, the government computer security incident response team;
- The drafting and adoption of the National Digital Security Strategy
Regarding the National Digital Security Strategy, the Director General of ANSSI said that the first projects implemented are already bearing fruit. He cited, among others:
- The admission of bjCSIRT to the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST);
- Capacity building for various target groups, including judges;
- Cybersecurity awareness-raising;
- The assessment of national cybersecurity maturity and capacity (CMM) by World Bank experts;
- Obtaining observer member status of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime.
The journalists, satisfied with the session, left better informed about what is being done in cybersecurity in Benin. They also took the opportunity to lay the foundations for a network of Beninese journalists specialising in digital affairs.
The official photos of the ceremony are available on the Flickr account of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation at https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWiKTj4