The governments of Costa Rica and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in cyber security, an initiative launched in 2019 with training and advisory activities with the aim of strengthening the cyber security tools of the Latin American country.
Israel is one of the world powers in terms of cybersecurity and also everything related to new technologies. Hence, the link between the two countries is also seen as the will of Costa Rica to become one of the Latin American benchmarks in this matter, regardless of the policy that it has been promoting for several years to be one of the main technology centers of the region.
The Costa Rican government expressed its intention to develop its capabilities as a regional benchmark and Central American hub in cybersecurity issues through the generation of talent in this area, an aspect that in turn would allow it to become a tool that can contribute to economic recovery, foreign investment and development.
More relevance
Cybersecurity begins to take on more and more relevance in governments, companies and the general public from the growing digital transformation of the processes of organizations, and due to the impact that 5G networks will have in the production networks in the future.
The meeting in which the memorandum was signed was attended by Paola Vega Castillo, Minister of Science, Innovation, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT); Oren Bar El, Israeli Ambassador to Costa Rica; and Mike Driquez, the vice ambassador and consul; both accompanied virtually by Amir Shalom, representative of the Department of Cooperation of the Ministry of Defense of Israel (SIBAT) and Esti Pechin and Camila Edry representatives of ELTA and the cluster of Israeli cybersecurity companies IC3.
The society of the future
“Through digital literacy and cybersecurity, we aim to prepare the society of the future in Costa Rica, a society that uses information technologies achieving its best with innovation and generating new job opportunities, strengthening local companies, exporting services and attracting foreign investment. This type of agreement seeks to strengthen our country so that it is recognized as a digital and safe society in the coming years, ”said Vega Castillo.
For his part, Ambassador Oren Bar El indicated that “it is an important call to action, as it manages to coordinate between the teams involved, and thus start collaboration as soon as possible. This important cooperation firm is achieved between similar countries, where solutions applicable to both are offered, in Israeli technological innovation in favor of competition in which Costa Rica is a world reference in the environment and green economy. Cyber is a world, a future full of challenges. This agreement will also open the way to cooperation possibilities for Costa Rica in an educational hub, such as the Cybersecurity Academies.”
Many aspects involved
The memorandum has among its main scopes the intensification of scientific and technological exchange on the subject of cybersecurity; facilitation of work visits between officials, researchers, students, professors and personnel working in this area; the development of training programs and other cybersecurity programs; knowledge transfer on the subject; exchange of good practices on public policy in the field of computer security and the joint organization of seminars, conferences among others.
