🎥: Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan explore Estonia’s cybersecurity approach
As cyber fraud accelerates worldwide, driven in part by an estimated 3.4 billion phishing emails sent every day, countries are racing to strengthen their cybersecurity capacities. No nation is immune, and the growing sophistication of online threats has underscored the need for robust cyber hygiene, secure-by-design public services, and comprehensive national cybersecurity strategies.
Against this global backdrop, the e-Governance Academy recently hosted delegations from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – two Central Asian nations rapidly expanding their digital public services and seeking to reinforce the security foundations that support them. The study visit took place on 17 – 19 November 2025 as part of the EU-supported project “Team Europe Initiative on Digital Connectivity in Central Asia“.
Kyrgyzstan targets frontline protection of personal data
The delegation from Kyrgyzstan’s Data Protection Agency arrived with a clear and practical mission: improve the cyber hygiene of teachers and family doctors who work daily with sensitive personal information. Their ambitious plan includes creating a nationwide network of cyber hygiene instructors to help safeguard children’s data, parents’ information, and medical records.
During the visit to Estonia, eGA experts and Estonian specialists in adult education, healthcare training, and data protection shared concrete methods and tools to help Kyrgyzstan build a strong national culture of online safety. Participants described the exchanges as both insightful and immediately applicable.
Tajikistan focuses on system-level cyber resilience
Tajikistan’s delegation placed its emphasis on the structural side of cybersecurity: designing government systems that are secure from the outset and developing a national cybersecurity strategy that can support the country’s long-term digital transformation goals.
Discussions with former Estonian government cybersecurity leaders provided strategic guidance, with delegates calling the conversations “highly valuable” and “eye-opening”, especially as Tajikistan prepares to scale up national efforts in digital security.
The week-long study visit was organised under the Central Asia Digital Connectivity Project, a Team Europe initiative supported by the European Union. Through this programme, experts from the e-Governance Academy (eGA) and Expertise France will closely collaborate with authorities in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to strengthen countries’ cybersecurity capacities.
With cyber threats routinely crossing national borders, regional cooperation has become indispensable. Equipping governments and the public with the skills and systems needed for safe digital participation is now a cornerstone of sustainable digital transformation in Central Asia.
