3/4/22, 1:38 PM Managing a digital revolution: cyber security capacity building in Myanmar - Routledge Companion to Global Cyber-Security Strategy In 2010 Myanmar held its first general election in over 20 years. This was the fifth step in a seven-step transition roadmap to democracy. In 2011 the military junta was dissolved and replaced by a civilian government. In 2015 Aung San Suu Kyi won both houses and the freely elected Myanmar Parliament convened for the first time, after being under the thumb of military rule for over half a century. As the country has recently emerged from oppressive rule at the hands of the military junta, the military continues to hold a strong position in Myanmar politics, but the country has taken important steps towards a democratization of the society (Chan, 2016). In coexistence with this move towards a more open society the country has also tried to develop its economy and its capabilities on several issues, among these connecting to the Internet. Myanmar has moved rapidly from one of the countries with the least ICT coverage in the world to one where connectivity is growing at an unprecedented pace (Vota, 2015). In 2011 the country was rated as the second-least connected country in the world, beating only North Korea, with an Internet penetration of under 1 per cent. The rapid connectivity is part of a government-initiated effort at modernizing the country that started in parallel with the democratization in 2011 (Calderaro, 2014). By the end of 2015 the number of subscribers in the country had ballooned to almost 50 per cent, indicating an increase in Internet subscribers of around 300 per cent yearly. The growth has been mostly related to smartphones, which make up around 80 per cent percent of all mobile phones in the country, a share that is higher than in most developed countries (Vota, 2015). While the fixed broadband Internet penetration is low, the mobile market has grown significantly since 2013, when the two foreign telephone operators Telenor (Norway) and Ooredo (Qatar) began investing in the Internet infrastructure in the country. In 2018, Myanmar is among the countries with the most substantial progress in the world concerning internet users." Cyber security challenges in Myanmar Being new to digital technologies the country still has significant unresolved issues relating to the securing and managing of this transition. A further https://ebrary.net/173520/political_science/managing_digital_revolution_cyber_security_capacity_building_myanmar#aftercont 2/19