world’s largest technology companies. Our economic success is therefore closely bound up with our ongoing ability to provide a secure environment for these companies to operate here. The security of our network and information systems is therefore crucial for the continued economic and social development of Irish society. The first National Cyber Security Strategy, published in 2015, has resulted in the establishment of a functional and evolving National Cyber Security Centre, and the development of a comprehensive set of measures around protecting key critical national infrastructure and the security of Government systems and data. Given the expanding nature of the threat and the evolving complexity of systems, this Strategy takes a broader perspective and sets out a series of measures that go well beyond those in the 2015 Strategy. These measures also embrace a broader set of issues than before; there are challenges around skills, enterprise development and research that require specific actions. The process for drawing up this Strategy was managed by a High Level Steering Group, chaired by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, with representation from the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Employment and Social Protection, the Department of Defence, the Office of the Chief Government Information Officer, the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation. The process was also guided by a set of consultation mechanisms. Firstly, a set of five sector specific engagement groups were drawn together, comprising of stakeholders from across the public and private sector. These groups covered National Security and Policing, Enterprise Development, Skills and Research, Public Sector ICT Security and Critical National Infrastructure Protection, and were designed to ensure that the Strategy was comprehensive and accurately reflected the diverse range of issues to be tackled. These groups were each convened twice, once before the public consultation to ensure that the consultation document and questions were appropriate, and to identify those fundamental concerns affecting each sector. The second meeting occurred after the public consultation was closed, and the groups were provided with the outcome of this, and with the proposed outcome of the Strategy. These groups provided a forum in which participants could freely voice opinions, concerns and ideas, and were extremely valuable in framing and contextualising the Strategy, and in identifying solutions to some of the challenges faced. A public consultation was run between March and May 2019, in which a brief draft of the strategy was published as part of a public consultation process to gather the views of the public and wider industry. Members of the public had 30 working days to make submissions 9