eYs Magazine Summer 2021

CYBER PEACE A KEY TO ACHIEVE SUSTAIBALE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (2030)

JOSHUA OGBONNA UCHENNA

Founder/CEO, Cyber Peace Advocacy

The role of cyber space in achieving Sustainable Development Goals is worth giving full attention as ICT has become an important fabric in different sectors of world economy.

The world is a sea of economic opportunities in virtually every sector, and the continents’ youthful population has an enormous opportunity in this digital era and hence the need for the world to make digitally enabled socio-economic development a high priority.

Peace in the cyber space is a driving force for innovative, inclusive and sustainable growth. Innovations and digitalization are stimulating job creation and contributing to addressing poverty, reducing inequality, facilitating the delivery of goods and services, and contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

As more and more people are using cyberspace, there are bound to be cybercrimes committed by the users in different forms with full or partial intentional awareness, negligence of cyber integrity and lack of cyber education.

The cyber space is being threatened with different forms of cybercrimes on daily basis.

This is a hindrance to trust in online business, smooth communication, data privacy, online education and a lot more. Since the cyber space has become a backbone to reliable communication around the globe, it demands tranquility.

A study by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) shows that more than half of the world population is currently online. According to the report, 51.2 per cent of individuals, equivalent to

3.9 billion people, were using the Internet at the end of 2018. This is a significant step towards a more inclusive global information society but also an important need for increased cyber protection. According to the ITU Connect 2030, there will be 70 per cent Internet penetration by 2023, increasing the need for a more cyber-secure space. The same study shows the global average cost of a data breach was up 6.4 per cent in 2018. Also at the same time due to the boost in the use of ICTs, the projected cybercrime cost will be an estimated USD 2 trillion by the end of 2019. The recent Corona Virus Pandemic (Covid-19) geometrically pushed over 75% of the terrestrial transactions and activities to the cyber space.

This calls for collaborative effort by the government of countries, United Nations, Continental Unions, states, public, private and corporate social sectors in active advocacy against cybercrime. This can be achieved through the implementation of cyber legislations, data and information protection laws, inclusion of cyber peace education in curriculum of schools, cyber security sensitization and awareness programs in communities and villages, female inclusion in cyber entrepreneurship and promotion of technological innovation and creativity.

More so, developing countries cannot make sustainable progress if the cyber space within their jurisdiction is threatened.

The threat would affect their economic development as developed countries would lose confidence and trust in online transactions with their citizens.

African continent for instance is lagging behind in terms of full engagement on the cyber space when compared with developed continents like North and South America and Europe. More attention should be given to them for sustainable cyber peace in the cyber space to enable African countries meets the African Union 2030 Agenda and UN 2030 Agenda.

This is because, African youths are getting abreast with cyber activities and more resources should be channeled to make them innovative and creative in the positive perspective.

In summary, a healthy transaction would better the relationship between countries of the world and strengthen multilateral transactions for economic development. The world must rise up to create a sustainable peace in the cyber space. All hands must be on deck to inculcate good cyber values and ethics to the younger generation who will thrive in cyber activities.