Department head: Uzbekistan scales up cybersecurity skills across public sector

Uzbekistan is expanding its cybersecurity capabilities and accelerating specialist training as digital threats increasingly challenge national resilience, economic stability and public trust, an official said.

Speaking at a panel discussion at the 4th National Cybersecurity Forum in Baku, Azamat Abdullayev, head of the Cybersecurity Coordination Department for government institutions at Uzbekistan’s Cybersecurity Centre, said the country has made training and capacity-building a central pillar of its national strategy, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Abdullayev said Uzbekistan had “significantly expanded efforts” in recent years to develop cybersecurity expertise through training programmes, cyber exercises, awareness campaigns and university-based initiatives.

He noted that thousands of public-sector employees and students had already been engaged in such programmes, while new regulatory frameworks on cybersecurity and critical infrastructure had broadened the responsibilities of government bodies across the country.

“The introduction of new cybersecurity and critical infrastructure regulations has significantly expanded the responsibilities of government organisations across the country,” he said, adding that there was now “an urgent need” to rapidly upgrade the professional skills of more than 1,000 cybersecurity specialists across over 100 state institutions.

By Aghakazim Guliyev