Cybersecurity Policy Officer, Organization of American States - OAS CICTE, Colombia
Orlando Garces is a Cybersecurity Policy Officer within the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE) of the Organization of American States (OAS). He supports the planning, development, and implementation of strategic activities designed to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of the Western Hemisphere, assisting OAS member states in better understanding, preventing, and responding to cyber threats in the digital landscape. Over the last decade, he has focused on developing and implementing National Cybersecurity Strategies/Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries, including Barbados, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, and Uruguay. He also contributes to the development of comprehensive reports and studies on the state of cybersecurity at regional, national, and sectoral levels, shaping regional cybersecurity policies and programs. Prior to joining OAS/CICTE, Mr. Garces worked on cyber policy projects with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in El Salvador and the Cyber Resilience for Development Project (Cyber4Dev) of the European Union in the Dominican Republic. With over 23 years of extensive public sector and multilateral experience in ICT policy and regulation, internet governance, and cybersecurity policy development, Mr. Garces holds a B.S in Civil Engineering, a Master's in Economics and a Master's in Environmental Economics from Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia). He also holds: i) Executive Certificates in Cybersecurity Leadership and Strategy from Harvard University, University of Reading, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Florida International University, and Universidad de León, and ii) Certificates in Security in the use of ICT from the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).
