Speakers
Description
Since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2022, national debates about security in general and cybersecurity in particular have become more frequent across European countries. In Italy, this debate has also been fostered by the newly elected government of Giorgia Meloni, which started operating exactly in 2022. Topics such as "national security" and "protection" towards cyber attacks - coming from outside the national borders - have begun to dominating the political arena. However, while policymakers overall agree on strengthening national cybersecurity, they are not aligned when it comes to the policies that must be implemented to achieve this objective. For instance, the recent discussion about establishing a partnership between the Italian government and Starlink has been paused because of potential security issues. In this research, we use Discourse Network Analysis to map the discourse networks among Italian policymakers discussing cybersecurity-related topics. Our objective is to identify those coalitions that may be able to support the implementation of specific policies - and infer what may be the next steps in an evolving debate that is particularly sensitive for policymakers, organizations, and individuals.
Keywords/Topics
Discourse Network Analysis; Cybersecurity; Political arena; Policymaking
