The National Coordination Centre for Cybersecurity (NCC-RO) launched the National Academy for Cybersecurity Skills on Wednesday, during the Bucharest Cybersecurity Conference (BCC2026).
According to a press release from the Authority for the Digitalisation of Romania, over 50 entities have signed the Bucharest Declaration on Cybersecurity Skills and Resilience to date, becoming founding members of the community supporting the Academy, agerpres reports.
The Academy is an initiative developed by the NCC-RO, in partnership with the National Cybersecurity Directorate (DNSC) and the Ministry of Education and Research, with institutional support from the National CYBERINT Centre. The Academy aims to bridge the gap between skills requirements and cybersecurity training opportunities in Romania by fostering collaboration among public authorities, academia, the research sector, and the industry.
The initiative was presented by Ana-Maria Busoniu, Director General of the NCC-RO, to over 100 key stakeholders from public authorities, academia, the research sector, and the industry. "Romania has numerous valuable initiatives, yet they remain fragmented. The National Academy for Cyberskills creates a common framework for cooperation, in which schools, universities, authorities, and the industry pool their resources to achieve a real and lasting impact across the entire society," stated Ana-Maria Busoniu, General Director of NCC-RO, as quoted in the press release.
Dan Cimpean, Director of the DNSC, noted that the Academy is an initiative designed to help young people discover cybersecurity and prepare for a career in the field. He further highlighted that Romania faces a shortage of over 5,000 cybersecurity specialists.
"It is an honor for the DNSC to be among the founding organizations of The National Academy for Cyberskills, alongside NCC-RO and our partner institutions. Through this initiative, we aim to support young people in discovering cybersecurity and preparing for a career in this field. Romania has a shortage of more than 5,000 cybersecurity specialists, a gap that cannot be filled solely through automation and artificial intelligence. We need entry-level professionals, and we need the educational system, the business community, and the public sector to invest in their training," said Cimpean.
Luca Tagliaretti, Executive Director of the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC), stated that the launch of the National Academy for Cybersecurity Skills and the signing of the Bucharest Declaration represent an important step toward providing coherent, structured, and professional responses to the cybersecurity skills gap in the European Union. Meanwhile, Fabio Di Franco, ENISA's lead for cybersecurity skills, emphasized that the initiative reflects a shared ambition: to develop the people and the skills that Romania and Europe need to remain cyber-secure in an increasingly digital world.
The initiative, coordinated by the NCC-RO (National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre - Romania) together with its institutional partners, aims to: map existing cybersecurity initiatives, programs, and resources nationwide to gain a clear picture of what is currently available and what needs remain unaddressed; foster the active involvement of institutions and organizations through their endorsement of the Bucharest Declaration on cybersecurity skills and resilience; and co-create, in collaboration with the entire community, the most effective interventions Romania can develop for cybersecurity education and training, spanning from the school level to professional practice.
The mapping exercise for existing initiatives, programs, and resources in this field has been launched on the website www.ncc.gov.ro. NCC-RO invites all organizations to register their initiatives, in order to gain a clear picture of what currently exists and what needs remain unaddressed.
"This marks the beginning of a process through which NCC-RO, together with the entire community that has embraced the Bucharest Declaration, co-creates the best interventions that Romania can develop. The findings from this consultation will form the basis for the Academy's operational plan, while, in parallel, NCC-RO will work to identify the most effective funding sources," the press release reads.
The project, funded through a Grant Agreement, is supported by the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre.
