The first Latin American Cybersecurity Research Symposium was held on 27 October 2022 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the government of Mexico. The Symposium was co-organised by EU Cyber Direct and the Latin American Cybersecurity Research Network (LA/CS Net), and took place as a side-event to the VI Meeting of the Organisation of American States’ (OAS) Confidence Building Measures Working Group. The occasion also marked the official launch of the LA/CS Net as a platform for dialogue, cooperation and research on cybersecurity across the region.
The Symposium was the first activity of the LA/CS Net and sought to bring together a community of researchers, scholars and practitioners working on cybersecurity in Latin America. The objectives of the Symposium were to:
- facilitate a dialogue for critical thinking about a culturally sensitive approach to research agendas in this field;
- open up the space for cross-sector collaborations in the region;
- promote interdisciplinary dialogues.
During the event, experts discussed the opportunities and challenges for the consolidation of a Latin American research agenda for cybersecurity. This report provides the background to the LA/CS Net and a summary of the discussion held during the Symposium, as well as mapping the horizon for future action. Although far from exhaustive, the report is a first step towards the development of a diverse and sustained dialogue around what it means to discuss and research cybersecurity within Latin America and contribute to a broader discussion of cybersecurity in developing countries and in the Global South.
The report is also available in Portuguese and Spanish.