Regional—Critical Infrastructure Digitalization and Resilience (CIDR)

Through the Critical Infrastructure Digitalization and Resilience (CIDR) activity, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Europe and Eurasia seeks to enable digital transformation by supporting critical infrastructure operators, host governments, and oversight bodies to address immediate cybersecurity vulnerabilities to the region’s critical infrastructure sectors, while as well as addressing the necessary legal, workforce, and investment gaps to support critical infrastructure resilience.

CIDR supports the governments of the Western Balkans, Black Sea Region, and South Caucasus in assisting critical infrastructure entities to incorporate cybersecurity best practices into their operations, planning, and procurement; prioritize cybersecurity investment needs; select appropriate mandatory or voluntary standards and corresponding security controls; and establish the basis for regionwide cybersecurity information sharing. Through a regional approach focused on improved policies and legislation, information sharing, workforce development, and capacity-building, the program will support sectors such as energy, water, transport, healthcare, finance, and telecommunications.

Sample Activities

• Accelerate the development of the relevant workforce to protect against and respond to threats from malign actors, particularly cyberattacks.
• Empower entities to identify and address threats and facilitate the export of U.S. technology and expertise to counter these threats.
• Establish the policies, frameworks, and coordination bodies necessary to empower entities to protect and improve the resilience of critical infrastructure.
• Establish robust information-sharing networks between national and regional critical infrastructure entities, promoting coordinated threat identification and response.
• Improve U.S. security through the application of lessons learned from this USAID-supported activity by U.S. critical infrastructure entities.