Tallinn Cyber Capacity-Building Fellowship Programme 2026: From shared challenges to practical cyber resilience

Cybersecurity challenges differ from country to country, but many of the questions behind them are remarkably similar. How should institutions work together? How can countries protect critical infrastructure? Where should limited resources be invested? And how can international cooperation help countries respond to threats that rarely stop at national borders?

These questions were at the heart of the second Tallinn Cyber Capacity-Building Fellowship Programme, which brought together 22 cybersecurity professionals and cyber diplomats from 21 countries for two weeks of learning, exchange and practical work.

The Fellowship combined an online programme with a week in Estonia. Participants explored cybersecurity governance, digital rights, international law, cyber diplomacy, AI, incident response and critical infrastructure protection, while meeting practitioners from government, academia and the private sector.

But learning from Estonia was only one part of the programme. Throughout the Fellowship, participants were encouraged to look at their own national cybersecurity environments: where are the gaps, which challenges require the most attention and what practical approaches could help address them?

Building national and international cyber resilience

Discussions throughout the Fellowship explored how countries can organise cybersecurity more effectively, from protecting essential state functions and critical infrastructure to incident response, election security and crisis management. Participants examined the importance of clear institutional roles, coordination across government and cooperation with the private sector.

Cyber diplomacy and international cooperation were another key focus. Fellows discussed how diplomacy, international law and international partnerships can help address cross-border cyber threats, build trust and strengthen cooperation in responding to incidents. Despite different national contexts, many of the challenges – including cybercrime, coordination and limited resources – were shared.

Skills and a changing threat landscape

The Fellowship also looked at the skills and partnerships needed to respond to a rapidly changing threat landscape. Discussions covered cybersecurity and AI education, cyber policy expertise, emerging technologies and the role of research and international cooperation in developing the cybersecurity workforce.

Participants also explored AI-driven cyber risks, human factors in cybersecurity, information warfare, strategic communications and the protection of critical infrastructure. A recurring message was that cyber resilience depends not only on technology, but also on skilled people, strong institutions, preparedness and cooperation across government, academia, the private sector and society.

Turning learning into practical recommendations

What made the Fellowship practical was the continuous focus on applying new knowledge to participants’ own countries. Rather than treating Estonia as a model to copy, the programme encouraged fellows to consider which experiences were relevant to their national context and how they could be adapted at home.

As part of the written assignment, participants worked with the National Cyber Security Index (NCSI) methodology and reviewed information about their own countries in the Index. This gave them a structured way to examine national cybersecurity capacities and identify areas where further development may be needed.

The fellows then combined this analysis with what they had learned during the online programme and their week in Estonia.

Working in groups, they developed capacity-building analyses addressing national cybersecurity strategy and implementation, international cooperation and cyber stability frameworks, critical information infrastructure protection, cyber threat analysis and reporting, and public awareness and coordination.

The exercise showed that while countries may have different institutions, resources and levels of digital development, many of the underlying challenges are shared. Comparing experiences can help countries identify approaches that have worked elsewhere, avoid repeating the same mistakes and develop solutions suited to their own needs.

From national challenges to shared solutions

Over two weeks, the Fellowship moved between national challenges and international experience, policy and practice, and learning and application.

Participants experienced Estonia’s cybersecurity ecosystem through government institutions, universities, the private sector and cybersecurity practitioners. At each stage, they were encouraged to ask the same question: what can we take from this experience and adapt to strengthen cyber resilience at home?

There is no single model for building cyber resilience. Institutional structures, resources and priorities differ from country to country. The value of international capacity building lies in creating opportunities to compare experiences, understand what has worked elsewhere and turn that knowledge into practical approaches suited to local realities.

The Fellowship also created connections between professionals facing many of the same challenges in different parts of the world. These networks provide another way for knowledge and experience to continue moving across borders long after the programme itself has ended.

About the Fellowship Programme

The Tallinn Cyber Capacity-Building Fellowship Programme strengthens the practical knowledge and policy skills of cybersecurity professionals and cyber diplomats from global partner countries while building an international network of experts.

Through lectures, discussions, practical assignments and study visits, participants engage with practitioners from government, academia and the private sector. The programme covers cybersecurity policy and governance, international cooperation and cyber diplomacy, legal and ethical issues, the cyber threat landscape and emerging challenges such as AI-driven threats, ransomware and quantum technologies.

The Tallinn Cyber Capacity-Building Fellowship Programme is co-organised by the e-Governance Academy (eGA( and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia and funded by the European Commission under the Tallinn Cyber Diplomacy Summer School project.

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