On 26 November, a round table discussion entitled ‘Prospects for the Development of Human Resources Policy in the Field of Cybersecurity in Ukraine’ was held in Kyiv, organised by the Foundation for support of reforms in Ukraine” in coordination with the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine. Participants – representatives of government agencies, research institutions, universities, and development partners – discussed how to transform initiatives for training specialists into a comprehensive national system for developing human capital in cybersecurity.
The Head of the State Service of Special Communications, Brigadier General Oleksandr Potii, emphasised that human resources have become one of the key challenges for the sector:
‘Law 4336 has opened a window of opportunity for Ukraine, but the law itself does not create cyber resilience. We need a comprehensive national system for building human resources capacity – from professional standards and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) in each agency to a cyber reserve. Only in this way can we build the cyber capacity of the state that corresponds to the level of threats during wartime.’
Another focus of the discussion was the idea of creating a Human Capital Office for Cybersecurity under the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection, which would serve as an umbrella for the entire personnel policy of the sector — from education and certification to competitive selection, inclusiveness, and coordination of donor assistance.
Andrii Chumak, Director of Development of the Foundation for Support of Reforms in Ukraine, presented his vision of such an Office as the central institution of the future project:
‘The implementation of the CISO law revealed not only a shortage of specialists, but also the lack of an orderly personnel architecture in the cybersecurity system. One of the key steps is the creation of a Human Capital Office under the SSSCIP, which will coordinate training programmes, competitive commissions, and the work of donors.’
According to him, the future Office should become a coordination point for all interested parties – state bodies, universities, specialised research institutions, NGOs, and international partners. A separate task will be to develop transparent competitive procedures for CISOs and specialists of various levels, as well as to build a cyber reserve involving veterans, women, young people and other groups that are currently underrepresented in the sector.
The roundtable participants agreed on the need for further joint work on the project concept, which centres on the Human Capital Office as a key instrument for implementing personnel policy in cybersecurity. The next step will be to form a working group with the participation of the SSCIP, the Foundation for Support of Reforms, relevant institutions and donors to detail the project, define its components and expected results.
