Response to the White House’s Request on Harmonizing Cybersecurity Regulations

The SCRE community argues that fragmented and conflicting global cybersecurity regulations increase costs and divert resources from actual security posture. They recommend that the US prioritize the electricity sector for harmonization due to its critical nature and the risks posed by digitization and AI. The document advocates for a risk-based approach that prioritizes security over compliance and leverages international standards from bodies like ISO and IEC to ensure interoperability.

• Fragmented and inconsistent global cybersecurity regulations create inefficiencies and increase costs for multinational companies, as limited resources are diverted toward compliance rather than improving actual cybersecurity posture.
• The SCRE community identifies the electricity sector as a priority for international regulatory harmonization because it is critical infrastructure where digitization, the energy transition, and AI are escalating the risk environment.
• National cybersecurity labelling schemes in the US, EU, and Singapore share similar goals but differ in scope and requirements; the document recommends basing such labels on international consensus-based technical standards to ensure interoperability.
• The EU is viewed as a de-facto standard setter for digital policy, but the SCRE community warns that the EU's Cyber Resilience Act's focus on European harmonized standards rather than international ones increases the burden on global companies.
• The document recommends that the US and other regulators leverage existing international technical standards, specifically the ISO/IEC 27000 series and the IEC 62443 series, to lower costs and ensure regulatory interoperability.
• Regulatory reciprocity is supported as a means to increase security and reduce costs, with examples cited including the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, the Singapore Cybersecurity Labelling Scheme agreements with Finland and Germany, and the US-Israel MoU on Cybersecurity.

APA

World Economic Forum (2023). Response to the White House’s Request on Harmonizing Cybersecurity Regulations. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Response_to_the_White_House’s_Request_on_Harmonizing_Cybersecurity_Regulations_2023.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Response to the White House’s Request on Harmonizing Cybersecurity Regulations. 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Response_to_the_White_House’s_Request_on_Harmonizing_Cybersecurity_Regulations_2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=World Economic Forum |title=Response to the White House’s Request on Harmonizing Cybersecurity Regulations |date=October 2023 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Response_to_the_White_House’s_Request_on_Harmonizing_Cybersecurity_Regulations_2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{worldeconomicforum2023response, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Response to the White House’s Request on Harmonizing Cybersecurity Regulations}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2023}, month = oct, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Response_to_the_White_House’s_Request_on_Harmonizing_Cybersecurity_Regulations_2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }