Speaker Bios

Ms. Caitríona Heinl

Caitríona Heinl is Executive Director at The Azure Forum for Contemporary Security Strategy, Ireland and Adjunct Research Fellow at the School of Politics and International Relations (SPIRe) at University College Dublin (UCD). Caitríona Heinl has over a decade of experience within international and Irish research, academic and consulting environments specialising in transnational crime, security and defence applied policy questions with particular focus on conflict prevention strategies related to international cybersecurity policy (e.g foreign policy/cyber diplomacy), strategic and emerging technologies, regional security/cybersecurity architectures and the Asia Pacific/South East Asia/EU.

Her work has included research, projects, consulting, public outreach/lectures, training, and capacity building at home and abroad for government agencies, international organisations and industry such as the UN, NATO, the OSCE, the EU, ASEAN/ASEAN Regional Forum, military colleges, the diplomatic corps, ministries of defence, the Irish government’s Departments of Justice and Defence, cybersecurity corporations and insurance companies. She is regularly invited to participate or speak as a subject matter expert at track 1/1.5 cyber diplomacy dialogues and consultations (e.g. ASEAN, ASEAN Regional Forum, OSCE, bilateral EU consultations and UN multistakeholder consultations). Caitríona lived and worked in Asia for nearly six years, where her work mainly focused on international, regional and national cyber diplomacy, resilience and military questions (e.g. cyber norms, confidence building measures, and capacity building). She continues this work since returning to Europe.

Caitríona was previously responsible for policy under the NTU Business School Cyber Risk Management project, having transferred from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) at NTU Singapore where she worked as Research Fellow on international cybersecurity. In this CENS role, she provided policy analysis to the National Security Coordination Secretariat under the Prime Minister’s Office and other government agencies. She previously led the Justice and Home Affairs policy group and Justice Steering Committee at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA Dublin) where she was responsible for research related to the EU Justice and Home Affairs portfolio.

She is a member of the Irish government’s Department of Foreign Affairs Foreign Policy Network, having represented the Department at meetings on Asia Pacific/cyber questions in Brussels previously. She has held Fellowships with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) International Cyber Policy Centre and Leiden University Institute of Security and Global Affairs. Caitriona continues to be a Member of the organising committee for the annual MIT international conference on cyber norms and international law. She is Co-Editor in Chief of the EU Institute of Security Studies EU Cyber Direct blog. She has published in many reputable outlets, including ‘Pointer’ (the journal of the Singapore Armed Forces), Asia Policy, The Jakarta Post, The Business Times Singapore, the Council on Foreign Relations, The Nation (Thailand) and the EU Institute of Security Studies. Caitríona holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. She graduated in commerce and law (BBLS) at University College Dublin and the University of Innsbruck with first class honours. Caitríona qualified as a Solicitor with the Law Society of England & Wales and is admitted as an Attorney-at-Law in New York.

Further Information can be found at https://www.azureforum.org/caitriona-heinl/

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