Closing Conference of the Project: Strengthening Personal Data Protection and Cybersecurity Across All Sectors in Kosovo

The Information and Privacy Agency today organized the Closing Conference of the Project” Strengthening Personal Data Protection and Cybersecurity Across All Sectors in Kosovo” funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and implemented by the CiviKos Platform and the Institute for Technology and Society (ITS). This project, implemented over the past 15 months, marked the successful completion of all planned objectives and activities, providing direct contributions to strengthening institutional capacities for the protection of personal data and cybersecurity in the country.

In her opening remarks, the Commissioner for Information and Privacy, Ms. Krenare Sogojeva Dërmaku, thanked the Embassy of the Netherlands, CiviKos, and ITS for their fruitful cooperation, highly appreciating the project’s results. She emphasized that the activities carried out – including awareness sessions, training for public officials, the preparation of guidelines for CSOs, training of trainers, and awareness campaigns – have directly contributed to raising standards of personal data protection in Kosovo. She also highlighted that the project significantly strengthened the Agency’s own capacities through the adoption of the internal regulation on functioning, the establishment of the Compliance Reporting Registry, and the development of a youth internship program.

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Kosovo, Ms. Karin Boven, expressed her satisfaction with the results and the project’s impact in the addressed fields, underlining the importance of ensuring sustainability and continuity of these achievements. She emphasized that the Netherlands’ support for Kosovo in the field of personal data protection remains a priority, serving as an inspiration for future initiatives.

The Executive Director of CiviKos, Mr. Dardan Kryeziu, presented statistical data on the activities carried out during the project, which demonstrate the tangible impact and inter-institutional cooperation in implementing best practices in data protection and cybersecurity.

The conference concluded with a panel discussion on the topic “Data Protection for a Secure Future Society”, where Kushtrim Mustafa from the Information and Privacy Agency, Samir Lleshi representing the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, and Arsim Mustafa from the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, under the moderation of Atdhe Lila from the Institute for Technology and Society, shared their perspectives on the challenges and achievements in this field. The discussion highlighted the need for subsidies for the implementation of data protection systems, raising awareness among businesses and citizens, as well as the role of municipalities in advancing compliance with personal data protection legislation.

The closing conference highlighted the importance of inter-institutional and cross-sectoral cooperation in addressing the challenges of cybersecurity and personal data protection, stressing that these achievements should serve as a foundation for further development in this field.