e@ National Security and Defence Strategy 2017-2020" The vision of the NSDS is for a Belize “of peace and tranquility, where citizens live in harmony with the natural environment and enjoy a high quality of life. Belizeans are an energetic, resourceful and independent people looking after their own development in a sustainable way”. Having established itself on three main pillars, namely: 1. Maintain the Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of Belize; 2. Reduce Local and Transnational Crimes; 3. Provide the necessary environment for a prosperous and stable Belize, the NSDS encompasses all factors identified to be essential to the security, stability and prosperity of Belize and the protection of the geopolitical space of Belize as defined by the Belize Constitution. As a part of the strategic objectives the NSDS states that as an effort to reduce such occurrences and the resulting harm to Belize’s sustainable development aspirations, there will be a provision of basic equipment and capacity to effectively manage and control Belize’s land, sea, air, and cyber space (emphasis added). As a nation we recognize cyberspace as a territory for protection. The NSDS further states that ‘in order to build public consensus, multilateral cooperation, and public-private partnerships to defeat transnational organized crime and local gangs, we aim to build new partnerships with industry, private sector, academia, civil society and non-governmental organizations to combat these networks that operate in the illicit and licit worlds...[as well as] ..further international norms against tolerating or sponsoring crime in all its forms, including in cyberspace especially as it relates to prostitution and sexual abuse’(emphasis added). This is position is not a unique approach as many nations have recognized cyberspace as the fifth domain, and as a nation we will continue to extend our resources to protecting the all the borders of Belize, which is among the reasons for the development of strategic approach to cybersecurity efforts. @Belize’s Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy (GSDS) 2016-2019 Flowing from Horizon 2030, the GSDS is a strategic plan that places sustainable development as a priority while striving to bring economic, social and environmental policies into balance. The GSDS is based on the principles of sustainable development, and on three notable drivers that are common to successful developing countries: a proactive role for the state, tapping into global markets, and innovative social policy". Among the Critical Success Factors for the GSDS, they identified CSF1, “Optimal National Income and Investment,” and included as an action to ‘Build institutional capacity to encourage technological adaptation and innovation while also taking into account climate change resilience considerations’. This line of action encourages the adoption of technology to improve efficiency, productivity and competitiveness. As stated in the GSDS, Capacity development processes will target the technical skills needed to facilitate government's efforts to encourage innovation and imitation. Notably, while technology will continue to revolutionize the way we do business, broader and wider-spread use of technology will also bring its vulnerabilities. Therefore the National Cybersecurity Strategy is designed to guide our nation to think of cybersecurity as an automatic consideration for any investment that involves technology. _ National Cybersecurity Strategy - Towards A Secure Cyberspace 2020-2023