João Manuel Assis Barbas is Colonel in the Portuguese Army and serves as an Advisor at the National Defense Institute. He is Deputy Director of the National Defense Course and Director of national and international courses, within the European College of Security and Defense framework, in Cybersecurity, Cyber Defense, and Cyberdiplomacy. Over 40 years of a military career, he has held high-responsibility roles in several Army, and NATO units, notably as Director of the Centro de Informática do Exército (CIE) and Chief of Staff of the JALLC/NATO. João Assis Barbas holds a Master's degree in Business Administration and Management (MBA) with a specialization in Information Management (UCP); degrees in Military Sciences - Artillery (Military Academy) and in Decision Systems Engineering (COCITE); and a postgraduate degree in Operations Research Systems Analysis (USA). In the last 20 years, he has been teaching in Higher Education institutions in the areas of Security and Information Technologies, Operations Research, and Statistics.