N AT I O N A L CY B E R S ECU R I T Y ST R AT EGY believe that they are not sufficiently aware of the full risk of cybercrimes (the European Union average is 51%), the dissemination of information should be increased in this regard. 27. There have been a number of surveys and forecasts conducted worldwide which indicate that people lack cyber security skills8 and that this will continue to be true in the future. Quality public education which corresponds with the needs of labour market is a tool that can contribute to professional competence. Presently, cyber security programmes are offered by four universities in Lithuania; yet according to the results of the survey titled “The ICT Specialists in Lithuania: Situation in the Labour Market and Employers’ Needs” that was carried out by the association Infobalt and the public institution Invest Lithuania, current labour market needs are not met. In order to reduce the gap between supply and demand of cybersecurity specialists, the existing cybersecurity study programmes must be improved and new study programmes shall be established. To boost cybersecurity culture, children and pupils should be provided with the fundamental knowledge of cybersecurity under nursery, preschool, primary and/or secondary education programmes since ICT is used to ensure educational and learning processes. In the context of implementing programme of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on reorganisation of the system of teachers’ up-skilling and training, efforts should be made to improve teachers’ qualifications in the area of cybersecurity. Having the opportunity and ability to expand and deepen their cybersecurity knowledge, teachers of different educational areas would not only be able to educate young people better, but would contribute to the development of knowledge and innovation based society and further cybersecurity awareness raising as well. 28. Many cybersecurity experts9 estimate that by the year 2019, there will be at least 1.5 million employment vacancies worldwide for cybersecurity professionals. The study “ICT Specialists in Lithuania: Situation in the Labour Market and Employers’ Needs”, conducted by the association Infobalt and 8 ISACA. State of Cybersecurity 2018 (2018), Information Security Community on LinkedIn, (ISC)2. Cybersecurity Trends. 2017 Spotlight Report (2017).2017 Spotlight Report (2017). 9 Silensec. Addressing the Cyber Security Skills Gap (2017). 10 Indeed. Indeed Spotlight: The Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap (2017), Information Security Community on LinkedIn, (ISC)2. Cybersecurity Trends. 2017 Spotlight Report (2017.)2017 Spotlight Report (2017). 13 public organisation Invest Lithuania in 2018, revealed that while there are 22,600 ICT specialists in Lithuania, about 13,300 more would be needed within the following three years. Regrettably, researchers provided no details about this shortage of cybersecurity specialists in Lithuania, but it may be assumed that they are in high demand. To address this shortage, cybersecurity skills that cybersecurity specialists are expected to have in Lithuania first must be identified because the demand for cybersecurity professionals may vary in different countries and problems related to the lack of cybersecurity skills may differ according to the conclusions of studies carried out in other countries10. 29. With regard to rapid development of cyberspace, various opportunities for innovation, which, in turn, drives economic and productivity growth, have emerged. This prompts the creation of new and better jobs, increases social mobility and responds to social and security challenges globally. Lithuania joined the European Union a relatively short time ago, for this reason, there is neither long tradition of cybersecurity scientific research nor education, whereas they are present in other EU Member States. The European Union has provided Lithuania with a great opportunity to promote investment in scientific research through the general research and innovation programme Horizon 2020 (2014–2020). Through this programme, Lithuania may contribute to the development of the digital economy and defence policy on both the national and the EU level. However, all efforts of the state in this direction must be focused on support measures that promote international networking in finding potential employees and partners. This would stimulate private sector investment in the R&D and innovation areas, new technologies, tools and services and in the cyber security area as well. The designing of innovative cyber security products would not only provide additional support and leverage for the competitiveness of the Lithuanian industry, but it is a key factor in responding to modern cyber incidents. It is also important to encourage Lithuania’s academics to participate in joint international academic publications in the field of cyber security, to attract as many students as possible to high-level R&D projects that focus on cyber security, to promote public-private partnership and academia cooperation and to increase the number of foreign doctoral students in the area of cyber security. 30. According to the data from the European Innovation Scoreboard 2018, in comparison with other EU Member States, Lithuania is a moderate innovator but it has advanced considerably in terms of innovation and improvement of the ecosystem of innovation.11 In the European Union, the private sec-