16 experts from Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, the USA and Ukraine held a  seminar on cyber security at Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy. The instructor of the  training was commander Phil Starkovic of the United States Naval Academy in  Annapolis. The goal was to prepare a cybersecurity program for students at the Naval  Institute at the Odessa Maritime Academy. The training is part  of the Defense Education Enhancement Program (DEEP) NATO DEEP – Ukraine  program, designed to identify the needs and gaps of educational institutions in  certain NATO partner countries. 

The DEEP – Ukraine project is an initiative from 2013. Through it, assistance  was sought from NATO for the military education system in Ukraine. Two main  goals were defined – to reform and improve the Ukrainian military education system  through the development of curricula and programs, and to build an adequate  administrative structure. 

Since 2015, Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy participates with his expertise in the  implementation of the goals related to naval training and works intensively on the NATO DEEP – Ukraine program. The head of Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy – Flotilla admiral Boyan Mednikarov, Prof. DSc.M.Sc., is the academic head of DEEP – Ukraine,  related to naval education and training. He is also part of the NATO DEEP coordination group.