Moldova’s digital leadership powered by women

Women still represent only 24% of the global cybersecurity workforce, according to the Global Cybersecurity Forum’s 2024 Cybersecurity Workforce Report. At the same time, countries need more cyber professionals than ever — not only technical experts, but also people working on policy, law, cyber diplomacy, crisis communication, education, data analysis and public awareness. For Moldova, this is especially relevant as the country strengthens its cyber resilience and continues its European path.

Cybersecurity has become part of Moldova’s wider security and European integration agenda. Recent years have shown how closely cyberattacks, disinformation and attacks on democratic processes are connected. In this context, resilience is not only about systems and technology. It is also about people, institutions, public trust and the ability to work together under pressure.

This is why bringing more women into cybersecurity matters. It helps widen the talent pool, strengthen decision-making and make sure that different perspectives are included when shaping the country’s digital future.

This was one of the key messages of the Women in Cyber Moldova National Forum 2026, held in Chișinău as part of the Europe Day programme. The forum brought together representatives of public institutions, European partners, academia, the private sector and civil society to discuss security, solidarity, Moldova’s European path and the role of inclusive leadership in building resilience.

Natalia Spînu, Director of the European Institute for Political Studies of Moldova and one of the key voices behind Women in Cyber Moldova, underlined that the initiative started from a clear need: to close the gender gap in cybersecurity by connecting women across institutions, making their work more visible and opening the door for more women to enter the field.

Natalia Spînu

Moldova’s resilience will be measured not only by the systems we protect, but by the people we trust to protect them.

Since its launch, Women in Cyber Moldova has brought together more than 500 women from different districts of the country, showing how women already contribute to cyber resilience through policy, law, crisis response and decision-making. For Spînu, this is not a symbolic question, but a strategic one: bringing women into cybersecurity is part of building a stronger, more democratic and more European Moldova.

As Elsa Neeme, Senior Cybersecurity Expert at e-Governance Academy, highlighted during the forum:

Elsa Neeme

Cyber resilience is built through cooperation, trust and shared responsibility. To make it stronger, we need all voices around the table, including women in cybersecurity, policy and decision-making.

If cybersecurity is meant to protect the whole society, it cannot be shaped by only one part of society. A cyber crisis touches people differently — from access to public services and personal data to trust in elections, schools, hospitals and institutions. Women’s leadership helps bring these realities into the room and makes cybersecurity not only more inclusive, but more effective.

As Spînu also emphasised, women’s place is not on the margins of Moldova’s cyber resilience. It is at its centre, and at the heart of the country’s European future.

For the European Union and its partners, supporting women in cyber is part of Moldova’s European path. Secure digital services, resilient institutions, protected personal data and trusted public systems all depend on people with the skills and confidence to understand and respond to cyber risks.

The Women in Cyber Moldova National Forum 2026 was co-organised by the European Institute for Political Studies of Moldova, EUPM Moldova and e-Governance Academy, with support from the EU-funded Improving Cyber Resilience in the Eastern Partnership Countries 2.0 project.