The main idea of our guest lecture program is to invite people who represent a unique combination of experience and knowledge. 

The perfect example of that kind of lecture was the one delivered at the beginning of the academic year 2019/2020 by Dr Paul Timmers. Our guest is visiting research fellow for cybersecurity and digital transformation at the Centre for Technology and Global Affairs (University of Oxford) and gained recognition in the academic world after publishing the paper titled Strategic Autonomy and Cybersecurity. 

At the same time, Dr Timmers has unique practical experience, as until 2017 he was Director at the European Commission for Digital Society, Trust & Cybersecurity, responsible for policy, legislation and innovation in cybersecurity, digital privacy, digital health & ageing, e‑government, and smart cities/mobility/energy.

Additionally, P. Timmers was a manager in a large ICT company, is co-founder of an ICT start-up, holds a PhD in Physics from Nijmegen University in the Netherlands, an MBA from Warwick University in the UK, was awarded an EU fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill and completed executive cybersecurity education at Harvard.

The introduction to the lecture was delivered by Dr Dominika Dziwisz, the Vice-Director of BA in International Relations and Area Studies (IRAS) Programme as the meeting was co-hosted by BA in IRAS Programme, our MA in ISAD Programme and the JU’s Department of National Security.

During his speech, Dr Timmers described how broadly cybersecurity could be understood. He also presented the influence of cyberspace on the state’s sovereignty. Finally, our guest from Oxford University discussed the emerging issues, which could be used as a research topic for BA and MA theses. 

During the Q&A session, our students asked about contemporary EU policy toward cyberspace, especially in reference to the 5G technology cooperation with China.