The French Pavilion in Zagreb hosted an international conference on raising public awareness about the importance of cybersecurity, titled „Empowering the Human Element“, which was organized by European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) i Croatian Academic and Research Network – CARNet, in collaboration with Croatian Institute for Cyber Security tea University Center for Cyber Security at the University North.
This international event, the first organized by ENISA in Croatia, brought together more than 300 participants from all over Europe, including cybersecurity and education experts, representatives of institutions and industry, academia, non-governmental organizations, and the media, as well as managers and decision-makers who shape cybersecurity awareness strategies within their organizations.
Evangelos Ouzounis, Head of Capacity Building at ENISA, stated in his opening speech: „Raising cybersecurity awareness is the foundation for strengthening our resilience and effectively responding to an increasingly complex threat landscape. We are proud to collaborate with CARNET and the Croatian National Coordination Centre – NCC in organizing this important conference dedicated to raising awareness, discussing the impact of artificial intelligence, and presenting ENISA's AR-in-a-Box tool for gamification.“
Dr. sc. Ivan Šabić, The Assistant Director of CARNET emphasized that CARNET continuously contributes to informing, connecting, and sharing knowledge in the field of digital transformation and cybersecurity, with a strong commitment to developing educational programs for future professionals and strengthening cooperation between the educational and business sectors.
We place the human factor at the center of our activities, as systems are only as secure as the people who use them. Strengthening their skills, awareness, and decisions in the digital environment is precisely the key to long-term resilience in Croatia and at the European Union level.
The conference discussed how artificial intelligence, advanced evaluation tools, and gamification can enhance cybersecurity awareness-raising in Europe. Participants had the opportunity to learn how to personalize educational activities, measure their real impact, and foster user engagement in the long term.
The conference represented an important opportunity to strengthen European cooperation and foster the development of new partnerships between institutions, industry, and academia in the field of cybersecurity.
