5 National Cybersecurity Strategy Good Practice 5.1.2 Establish a competent cybersecurity authority The Strategy should identify a dedicated national-competent cybersecurity authority – a leader (whether an individual or an entity) who is elevated and strongly anchored at the highest level of government to provide direction, to coordinate action, and to monitor the implementation of the Strategy. Such a national competent cybersecurity authority should also act as management entity to define and clarify roles, responsibilities, processes, decision rights, and the tasks required to ensure effective implementation of the Strategy. This includes identifying the stakeholders who will oversee the implementation of the Strategy and establishing performance targets for various ministerial or governmental departments, institutions, or individuals responsible for specific aspects of the Strategy and subsequent action plan. This approach may require additional policy or legal structures to empower them to perform their missions. Given the fact that cybersecurity intersects many different issue areas, it is important to ensure that the national-competent authority has the ability to involve and direct relevant stakeholders. 5.1.3 Ensure intra-government cooperation The Strategy should establish a mechanism to identify and include the government entities affected by or responsible for its implementation. Intragovernmental commitment, coordination and cooperation are core functions of those governmental institutions, needed to ensure that the governance mechanisms (i.e. rules) and resources yield the desired outcomes of the Strategy. Effective communication and coordination ensure that all ministries and government agencies are aware of each other’s respective authorities, missions and tasks. Commitment, however, is about supporting consistent policies over time to ensure that promises in the Strategy are delivered. An example of a coordination mechanism would be conducting periodic meetings that involve all relevant stakeholders in the plans of actions that are to be jointly reviewed. An example of a cooperation mechanism would be the creation of an intragovernment task force to address a particular issue. An example of commitment is consistency between the country’s domestic and foreign policy agendas, so that one ministry does not undermine the credibility of another by representing different positions on the same policy issue area. 5.1.4 Ensure inter-sectoral cooperation The Strategy should reflect an understanding of the dependencies that the government has on the private sector and other national stakeholders (and vice-versa) in ensuring cybersecurity. To this end, it should articulate how the government will engage these stakeholders and define their roles and responsibilities. For example, the Strategy should identify a network of authoritative national contact points for critical industries that are essential for the operation and recovery of critical services and infrastructures. Guide to Developing a National Cybersecurity Strategy 37