Cristina del Real contributes to presentation of the Office of Science and Technology to the Spanish Parliament
Cristina Del Real, Assistant Professor in Cyber Crisis at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, participated in the presentation of the Office of Science and Technology (OficinaC) of the Spanish Congress of Deputies (the Spanish Parliament). She is an expert on cyber security, one of the four topics discussed at OficinaC, and was interviewed about her cyber security report.
The OficinaC aims to facilitate access to scientific evidence for the Spanish Deputies. Del Real mentions that this is a crucial step for the Spanish democracy, as for the first time in 47 years of democracy, Science is officially included as part of the policymaking process.
Del Real participated in the official presentation on Monday 14 November, as one of the academics invited by the Parliament.
'This was a great experience for me, as I had the opportunity to participate in the biggest knowledge transfer event between the scientific community and the policymakers of the Spanish democracy.'
On Wednesday 16 November she participated alongside two other academics, Javier López, Full Professor at the University of Malaga, Spain, and Joaquin Garcia-Alfaro, Full Professor at Télécom SudParis-Institute Polytechnique de Paris, France, in a closed-doors event with the Spanish Deputies. The Deputies had the opportunity to discuss with the three academics the latest scientific evidence about cybersecurity culture, equal distribution of cybersecurity, the applications of blockchain technology, and the risks and threats of integrated health information systems, among other topics.
'This was a great experience for me, as I had the opportunity to participate in the biggest knowledge transfer event between the scientific community and the policymakers of the Spanish democracy.'
Cybersecurity Report
Del Real was also one of the academics interviewed for the report [Spanish] on cybersecurity. The cybersecurity report synthesises the evidence on cybersecurity through interdisciplinary lenses. It presents the international European and Spanish governance landscape, stresses the importance of collaborative networks, and delineates strategies to gain citizens' trust through digital sovereignty and security by design – in line with one of the projects Del Real is involved at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs on 'Cyber Security by Integrated Design'. Moreover, in line with the philosophy of the Cyber Security Governance group, the cybersecurity report positions people at the heart of cybersecurity through cybersecurity culture and the development of cyber rights.
OficinaC
The OficinaC is a service of the Congress of Deputies in collaboration with the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT).
They gather existing scientific and technological evidence on topics of the Congress´ interest and organise activities to foster dialogue between the scientific community, Deputies, and society. They want to contribute to the strengthening of scientific and technological evidence assessment as a fundamental - but not the only - aspect of parliamentary work.
Their first activity was to condense evidence on four topics chosen by the Deputies (Informes C or Reports C):
- Green hydrogen as a fuel;
- Artificial intelligence and health;
- Advances in cancer treatment;
- Cybersecurity.
Photos: The official presentation and the dialogues with the Deputies
