Summary
Held every 12 to 18 months by the Council of Europe, the Octopus Conference constitutes one of the biggest and finest platforms of exchange in cybercrime gathering experts from more than 100 countries, international organisations, private sector and academia.
The conference held this year in the Council of Europe provides an opportunity to interface for cybercrime experts from public and private sectors as well as international and non-governmental organisations from all over the world. High-level interventions are envisaged.
This year, our colleague, Gabriel has represented Pixels of Change at the conference. During the conference, GEYC has emphasized both the main takeaways from the workshops on digital we have led, as well as the main recomandations we have developed as a result of having facilitated the workshops for thousands of people.
- The lack of approachable digital education in highschools (only hard skills are covered in the schools curriculum and no soft skills are tackled during K12).
- The low digital citizenship readiness of young people in highschools. Romania has one of the lowest level of basic overall digital skills, according to EuReporter. The EU average is 56%, but in Romania that amount the amount of people who have a basic level of digital competencies is only 28%.
- The growing trend of AI generated content online and the increasing amount of fake or deceptive news.
Context
During the conference, a number of subjects closely related to the digital security of youth were tackled, such as Youth and cybercrime, Cyber-interference with democracy, Crypto-investigations, Cybercrime, e-evidence and AI, Cyberviolence.
Among the participants, we have met the Head of Cybercrime Division, Council of Europe, Minister of Justice of Malta, on behalf of the President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Interpol Global Complex for Innovation, Singapore, Chief, Cybercrime and Technology Section, UNODC, Assistant General Counsel, Law Enforcement and National Security, Europe, Microsoft, among others.
2025 EU Year of Digital Citizenship
This conference is particularly important in the context of the Week of Digital Citizenship Education in the EU's dedicated year for Digital Citizenship Education. An emphasis has been adressed on the importance of digital competencies in today's society, especially among youth. Through the "Pixels of Change" participating in this conference, we have both reinforced the need for digital citizenship education, as well as giving the youth perspective a voice in the Council of Europe.
Global Cooperation in the Youth Sector
During the conference, Gabriel raised a crucial question: How can European youth programs be more open to global cooperation in vital areas like #cybersecurity, given their current regional focus?
The response from key figures was encouraging. Commissioner Glenn Micallef of the European Commission emphasized the clear need for "joint solutions with the global community" and building capacities together. Additionally, Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Youth Department at the Council of Europe, highlighted existing Council of Europe tools for global engagement, such as the Conference of INGOs, the North-South Centre, and the World Forum for Democracy.
This vital discussion sparks a significant question for us all: Should #ErasmusPlus and #EUSolidarityCorps expand globally to truly address worldwide challenges, or should cybersecurity programs, like those from C-PROC, specifically incorporate a dedicated #youth dimension?
Watch our video to hear more about this pivotal discussion and join the conversation! Your insights are invaluable as we explore how to empower young people globally in the fight against cybercrime.
Recommendations
Based on the previous experiences of the workshops we have led, we developed a series of recommendations for the stakeholders taking part in this edition of the Octopus Conference. Here you may find some of our recomandations:
For more information, visit our Pixels of Change page.
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