As energy systems continue to advance technologically, they have become increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. In response to this threat, USEA partnered with USAID to share some key tools and resources to improve cybersecurity in the energy sector. This effort culminated in a series of cybersecurity webinars, launched in June 2020, aimed at the utility sector of USAID partner countries working on this issue, or looking at how to get started. Following this 15 webinar series, we added 2 industry panels, and most recently, a handbook, based on the webinars, that provides an overview of resources available, what is necessary, identifying free resources, potential solutions, and ideas on how to get started.

This webinar will draw on lessons learned from the handbook and webinar series and present a discussion on how participant utilities plan to implement these best practices in their own organizations. Two of the speakers recently completed an online course based on the webinar series and are planning to develop a cybersecurity roadmap/framework within their organization. Ghana’s transmission company, GridCo, is a partner of USEA and USAID’s Business Innovation Partnership (BIP) and is planning to establish a cybersecurity program. India’s system operator, POSOCO, is working to protect IT and OT infrastructure from cyber-attacks, as well as improve digitalization processes. This webinar will address these challenges and how the lessons learned from the handbook and webinar series can improve cybersecurity and digitalization efforts in their respective organizations.