The Bybit-founded Blockchain for Good Alliance and UNDP have agreed a two-year programme to build cybersecurity capacity in public institutions.
The Blockchain for Good Alliance (BGA), a non-profit initiative founded by crypto exchange Bybit to use blockchain for social impact, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed an agreement to launch a two-year programme aimed at strengthening cybersecurity knowledge and capacity for the responsible use of digital technologies in development. The programme will be implemented by UNDP’s Alternative Finance Lab (AltFinLab) in collaboration with BGA.
Cybersecurity as a development concern
Public institutions increasingly rely on digital systems, including blockchain technology, to manage identity, payments, aid delivery, and public records, making cybersecurity essential to keeping services running, protecting public funds, and maintaining trust. According to the partners, advances in AI are making attacks faster and more sophisticated, while the systems being defended are becoming more complex. Securing them requires technical expertise, strong governance, and the capacity to respond to incidents, which the programme aims to help build.
Robert Pašičko, Team Lead of UNDP’s AltFinLab, stated that the governments UNDP supports face growing and increasingly complex cybersecurity challenges driven by conflicts, AI-enabled fraud, and more sophisticated attacks, and that building resilient, trusted digital systems is essential to addressing these risks. Helen Liu, Founder of BGA, stated that the industry BGA comes from has learned about cybersecurity and digital safety through difficult experience, and that the partnership puts those lessons to work for the public good.
Programme structure and partnerships
Over two years, the programme will draw on cybersecurity expertise from BGA’s network to support learning through the SDG Blockchain Accelerator, which helps develop solutions using emerging technologies to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the Government Blockchain Academy, a capacity-building programme for public officials. It will also include dedicated sessions for UNDP country offices and government counterparts, covering data protection, secure digital payments, and the security of public digital services.
Glenn Tan, Director of Global Affairs at BGA, described prevention, response, and recovery as the three pillars of cybersecurity, stating that while much of the relevant expertise sits in the private sector, public institutions and international organisations often lack direct channels to access it. The partnership builds on BGA’s role as a strategic partner of the SDG Blockchain Accelerator, now entering its third cohort, and its membership of UNDP’s Blockchain Advisory Group. With UNDP operating in 170 countries, the programme gives the crypto industry a channel to share security practices with public institutions that are adopting digital payment and identity systems.
