Reported by the Council Foreign Relations, Japan may be the UK’s best partner in accessing Southeast Asia cyber market …
Japan is going to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, and it mandatory that authorities ensure the cybersecurity of the events. For this purpose, last month, Japan and the UK held their fourth dialogue on cyberspace in London to discuss their cooperation in this affair. Considering major sporting events that have become targets for malicious cyber activities, such as potential electricity disruption in the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Games or cyberattacks in the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang (Korea), Japan believes there’s a great chance to learn from the UK and to collaborate in the development of international cyber norms, the security of internet of things devices, and capacity building.
For the UK, the benefits include the opportunity to access the Southeast Asia cybersecurity market via capacity building efforts.
While the UK has little experience working in the ASEAN region in terms of cyberspace, Japan has long been an active in building cybersecurity capacity in the region with various workshops, training courses and collaborative projects such as the Internet Traffic Monitoring Data Sharing Project (TSUBAME Project). The UK expressed interest in accessing Southeast Asian customers, and Japan will be an important partner in these efforts.
One common drawback faced by the UK, Japan, and the ASEAN regions as well is the shortage of cybersecurity professionals. Hence, collaboration in cybersecurity training should be conducted. Both Japan and the UK have national level efforts to cultivate cybersecurity professionals from the entry level to the C-suite. The Japanese government founded some cyber educational program such as the National Cyber Training Center and the Industrial Cyber Security Center of Excellence. Similarly, the UK government provides an apprenticeship scheme to train people to protect critical infrastructure. With the cooperation between Japan and the UK, Southeast Asia might have an opportunity to access their beneficial training programs.
