ESDC (European Security and Defence College)

Published at: 22.11.2022

In November 2022, the University of Lodz was officially accepted as a member of the European Security and Defense College (ESDC) - a dedicated initiative of the European External Action Service (EEAS) aimed at focusing training efforts on cybersecurity. The University of Lodz is the only civilian institution from Poland admitted to the College. On behalf of the University of Lodz, cooperation with ESDC is carried out by the Lodz Cyber Hub research center.

The purpose of the College is to strengthen a common European security and defense culture and to provide the Union institutions with competent staff able to work effectively in all matters of common defense of Community interests. To this end, the College organizes specialized training and provides an educational offer that meets the training and educational needs of national and international entities. The College is organized as a network of civil and military institutes, colleges, academies, universities, institutions and other entities dealing with security and defense policy issues in the Union as defined by the Member States. The College is part of the European External Action Service but has its own legal capacity.

Cybersecurity and International Law, Brussels, 23-25 January 2023

Participants from EU Member States and from third states came together in Brussels for the ESDC’s fully residential cyber course ‘Cybersecurity and International Law’, from 23 to 25 of January 2023. More than 30 participants, civilian and military, working in different fields and focused on law and cybersecurity, had the possibility to exchange views and share best practices on cyber-related topics while improving their knowledge, skills and competencies.

It has been a great honour for the Lodz Cyber Hub to co-organise for the first time this important cyber activity with the ESDC. This pilot course, after the approval process, could become part of the standard list of ESDC’s curricula approved by the 27 EU Member States.

This course offers a practical approach to the application of international law in cyberspace. It is focused on current geopolitical challenges and pragmatic solutions. Several crucial cyber topics related to the International Law under the cybersecurity domain were discussed during the three-day course: • Applying international law in cyberspace • Digital sovereignty • Armed attack in cyberspace – passing the Article 51 UNC threshold • Cyber sanction and the EU diplomacy toolkit • Internet governance, multistakeholdersim and international lawmaking • International jurisdiction in criminal cases • CoE Budapest convention on cybercrime • Challenges in online platform content moderation • Open Source Intelligence and cyberespionage • Privacy and data protection in cyberspace • Freedom of expression, disinformation and hate speech online • Global Governance of LEO Satellite Broadband • Cybersecurity Due Diligence • DNS4EU and splinternet scenarios • European cybersecurity and European Critical Infrastructures By the end of this course, the participants will be equipped with the practical knowledge and skills to address contemporary international law issues in cyberspace.

This cyber course is one of several cyber activities organised by the ESDC Cyber ETEE platform (cyber education, training, exercise and evaluation). The overall aim of the platform is to address cybersecurity, to provide defence training to civilian and military personnel, and to include CSDP requirements in all relevant training for EU Member States. The platform deals with all domains of cybersecurity, including cyber crime, network information security, cyber defence and external relations.

Source: https://esdc.europa.eu/2023/01/24/6467/

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