This conference will be held fully in person. If you are interested in participating in the conference in person we recommend that you apply for your spot as soon as possible.
The European Cyber Security Conference returns to Brussels this March for its 10th Edition! Gathering leading policy-makers, industry players, high level cyber security and defence experts, this Forum Europe conference, organised in partnership with the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO), will explore Europe’s response to cyber security issues in a dynamically evolving global risk landscape and what the next steps for all actors of the ecosystem should be to create a safe and secure environment allowing Europe to leverage the tremendous socio-economic benefits offered by digital technologies.
European Cyber Security, Resilience and Strategic Autonomy
People, Tech and Processes for Cyber Security
Aligning Cyber Security Efforts to Protect Critical Infrastructures
Harnessing Tech and Cooperation for Cyber Defence
Bio will appear here soon.
Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges
NATO
Bio will appear here soon.
Head of Unit Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy Policy, DG CONNECT
European Commission
Kaljurand was elected to the European Parliament and started her duties as MEP on July 2nd, 2019 after resigning from the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu). She is the member of the Estonian Social Democrats Party since June 2018.
Kaljurand is a member of the UN Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters since 2020.
Kaljurand is the co-chair of the Aspen Global Cybersecurity Group, launched in 2022. Kaljurand was a member of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation (2018-2019). She Chaired the Global Commission of the Stability of Cyberspace (2017-2019).
Kaljurand served as Estonian Foreign Minister in 2015-2016.
Kaljurand has served twice as the Estonian National Expert at the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security (GGE), in 2014-2015 and in 2016-2017.
She began her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991 and held several leadership positions, including Undersecretary for Legal and Consular Affairs (Legal Adviser), Undersecretary for Trade and Development Cooperation, Undersecretary for Political Affairs. She served as Ambassador of Estonia to the State of Israel, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Canada and the United States of America. Kaljurand headed the legal working group at the Estonian accession negotiations to the European Union and was the Chief Negotiator in Estonian accession negotiations to the OECD.
Marina Kaljurand graduated cum laude from the Tartu University (1986, LLM). She has a professional diploma from the Estonian School of Diplomacy (1992) and MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (F95).
Member
European Parliament
Miguel A. Amutio studied at La Salle School of Deusto and graduated in Computer Science at Deusto University. Joined the General State Administration in 1995. CISA, CRISC, CISM. With more than twenty-five years of experience in information security issues and in European activities. This includes a large record in coordination of initiatives such as the National Security Framework (ENS) and the National Interoperability Framework (ENI); the direction of the Cybersecurity Operations Center of the General State Administration; leadership of working groups; participation in cybersecurity bodies and groups in National Cybersecurity; participation in committees and working groups of the European Union, the OECD and others international; as well as participation in IT security standardization activities in the fields of Risk Management and Cybersecurity. Member of the Governing Board of the European Cybersecurity Competence Center.
Deputy Director General for Cybersecurity Planning and Coordination
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Spain
Bio will appear here soon.
Head of Sector, Cyber Security
EEAS
Bio will appear here soon.
Cyber Aware Programme Manager, DG DIGIT
EEAS
Thomas Boué oversees the BSA | The Software Alliance’s public policy activities in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. He advises BSA members on public policy and legal developments and advocates the views of the ICT sector with both European and national policy makers. He leads on security and privacy issues as well as broader efforts to improve levels of intellectual property protection and to promote open markets, fair competition, and technology innovation in new areas such as cloud computing.
Prior to joining BSA, Boué served as a consultant in Weber Shandwick where he advised clients on a wide range of technology and ICT-related policy issues and represented them before the EU institutions and industry coalitions. In this role, he also served as policy and regulatory adviser for both EU and US telecom operators. Prior to that Boué worked for the EU office of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry where he was responsible for the lobbying activities towards the EU Institutions in the areas of trade, education, and labor, as well as for the organization and running of seminars on EU affairs for SMEs and business professionals.
Boué holds a Master of Business Administration from the Europa-Insitut (Saarbrücken, Germany), a Certificate of Integrated Legal Studies (trilateral and trilingual Master’s degree in French, English, German and European Law, from the Universities of Warwick (UK), Saarland (Germany) and Lille II (France) as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Law from the University of Lille II, France. He is based in BSA’s Brussels office.
Director General, Policy - EMEA
BSA | The Software Alliance
Ed Parsons is responsible for growing our membership and achieving organizational goals in the UK and Europe.
Based in the UK, he leads business development activities across multiple sectors in the region, including amplifying the position of (ISC)² in the market with external stakeholders.
Ed joined (ISC)² because he is passionate about growing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, helped by the fact that he is himself a CISSP and member since 2015. Ed has significant experience in the cybersecurity industry, particularly in leadership, having led an international cyber security consultancy in the UK and Nordic markets, renowned for research and technical expertise.
Regional Director – UK and EMEA
(ISC)²
Florian Pennings works for Microsoft on EU Cybersecurity Policy. He believes collaboration and multi-stakeholder management is essential to ensure strong cybersecurity. This requires constant engagement and open discussions among peers. Before joining Microsoft, he worked in national and European government agencies responsible for cybersecurity. He coordinated strategic and tactical cooperation with industry and public stakeholders. At Microsoft he contributes to public discussions concerning EU cybersecurity policies like Cyber Resilience Act, NIS2, and Cybersecurity Certification, leveraging his operational and strategic national and European experience. He strongly believes that cooperation is built on trust and common interests, not on differences.
Director EU Government Affairs – Cybersecurity
Microsoft
Mr. Rebuffi graduated in Nuclear Engineering at the Politecnico in Milan (1984) before obtaining a PhD in Electronics at Paris – Orsay University (1987).
He worked on the development of high power microwave systems for the future thermonuclear fusion reactor (ITER) in Garching, Germany (1988-1991). Afterwards, he was employed by Thomson CSF to take responsibility for European Affairs (R&D) in different sectors: telecom, industrial, medical, scientific etc (1992-1999). He worked for Thales Microwave, in the position of the Head of Unit for Sales of Telecom Products (2000-2002) and later became promoted for a position of the Thales Director for European Affairs (2003-2007). In this capacity, he was responsible for the development of business and research activities with European Institutions for the civilian activities in Thales.
In 2003, he initiated and from 2007 to 2017 he has been the CEO of the European Organisation for Security (EOS) that gathers the most important European private security stakeholders and public NGOs from supply and demand side to develop and implement European security solutions and services in a comprehensive approach. In 2016, he took over the role of Secretary General of the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO). He contributed to establish in June 2016 an Association with more than 250 members in charge of implementing the Public-Private Partnership contract on European cybersecurity with the European Commission and supporting the development of the full European Cybersecurity Ecosystem.
Secretary General
ECSO
Visiola follows cybersecurity regulation at EU level and national cybersecurity developments in the UK. She leads the benchmarking analysis reports under the cybersecurity practice, and actively reports on topics such as 5G security, high risk vendors in the cybersecurity supply chain, the EU cybersecurity act and the EU Network and Information Security Directive (NIS Directive).
Visiola joined Cullen International in July 2015, after graduating from the University of Hamburg, Germany in EU Law and Affairs.
Cybersecurity Senior Analyst
Cullen International
Iva Tasheva is the co-founder and cybersecurity lead at CYEN, a family-owned micro consultancy established in Brussels in 2018. She helps public and private sector organisations manage cybersecurity governance, risk and compliance (GRC). She has experience in the public, digital, transport, banking, medical devices and non-profit sectors. She is certified ISO 27001 Lead Implementer and ISO 27799 Lead Manager.
In addition to her work for CYEN, she is a Member of the EU Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA) Ad-Hoc Working Groups on Enterprise Security and on Cloud Security (Certification), adviser to Obelis (representation of non-EU based manufacturers in a successful EU Market entry), a Board Member of the DPO Circle (community of GDPR and data security professionals), and a founding member of the Belgian Chapter of Women4Cyber. She was shortlisted for the Belgium’s Cyber Personality of the Year 2022 Award by the Belgian Cybersecurity Coalition.
Follow Iva Tasheva (or CYEN) on LinkedIn for updates on cybersecurity policy and implementation. Follow ‘CYEN – Cybersecurity’ on YouTube for monthly cybersecurity top experts’ interviews.
Co-Founder & Cyber Security Lead
CYEN SCS
Dr. Raluca Csernatoni is a Research Fellow at Carnegie Europe, where she specializes on European security and defence, with a focus on emerging and disruptive technologies. She is also a Team Leader and Research Expert on new technologies for the EU Cyber Direct – EU Cyber Diplomacy Initiative project. Csernatoni is currently a Guest Professor on European security with the Brussels School of Governance and its Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. She is presently a Co-Leader of the ‘Governance of Emerging Technology’ Research Group with the Centre on Security and Crisis Governance, at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Canada. Csernatoni is also a Visiting Professor on technology, security, and high-tech warfare with the Department of International Relations of Central European University, and an Associate Research Expert on ‘Peace Tech’ with the Austrian Centre for Peace, both in Vienna, Austria.
Her published work appeared in academic journals such as European Foreign Affairs Review, European Security, Critical Military Studies, Global Affairs, and European View. She has authored numerous book chapters, policy analysis articles, reports, and commentary pieces on the governance of EU-led defence technological and industrial initiatives, European technological sovereignty and strategic autonomy, and the impact of emerging and disruptive technologies such as drones and Artificial Intelligence on international and European security. Her latest co-edited book, Emerging Security Technologies and EU Governance: Actors, Practices and Processes, was published with Routledge Studies in Conflict, Security and Technology Series in 2020.
Prior to joining Carnegie, Csernatoni was a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at the Charles University’s Institute of Political Studies in Prague, Czechia, where she focused on the impact of new military capabilities and emerging dual-use technologies on the EU’s security and defence architecture. Previously, Csernatoni conducted research on European defence and technological policy at the Faculté des Sciences Sociales et Politiques, Université libre de Bruxelles, the Royal Higher Institute for Defence’s Centre for Security and Defence Studies, and at the International Security Information Service Europe in Brussels, Belgium. She was also a Research Fellow in the Study Program on European Security at the Institute for European Politics in Berlin, Germany.
Csernatoni holds a PhD and master’s degree in international relations from the Central European University, Vienna, Austria.
Visiting Scholar
Carnegie Europe
*** Times are listed in CET ***
The EU’s cybersecurity policy agenda has steadily advanced in the past decade. Russia’s war on Ukraine has demonstrated the need for an up-to-date, future-proof regulatory framework that prepares Europe for an ever-growing threat landscape, reinforces the EU’s industrial and technological capacities to reduce dependencies, enhances its strategic autonomy, and drives its leadership in cybersecurity forward. Accelerating the implementation of NIS2 and CER to protect our critical infrastructure is now deemed paramount. Several legislative files and projects aiming to complement the EU Cybersecurity framework are currently in the making. This session will ask if the latest cyber security initiatives that aim to increase trust and security in essential products and services, such as the CRA, the EUCS and other certification and standardisation schemes, are truly fit-for-purpose, and the extent to which they will fulfil the ambition of creating a robust cyber security landscape in which a thriving European cybersecurity market can be developed, allowing the region to become a global leader in this area and supporting its drive for strategic autonomy in the digital domain.
Possible questions:
Miguel A. Amutio studied at La Salle School of Deusto and graduated in Computer Science at Deusto University. Joined the General State Administration in 1995. CISA, CRISC, CISM. With more than twenty-five years of experience in information security issues and in European activities. This includes a large record in coordination of initiatives such as the National Security Framework (ENS) and the National Interoperability Framework (ENI); the direction of the Cybersecurity Operations Center of the General State Administration; leadership of working groups; participation in cybersecurity bodies and groups in National Cybersecurity; participation in committees and working groups of the European Union, the OECD and others international; as well as participation in IT security standardization activities in the fields of Risk Management and Cybersecurity. Member of the Governing Board of the European Cybersecurity Competence Center.
Thomas Boué oversees the BSA | The Software Alliance’s public policy activities in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. He advises BSA members on public policy and legal developments and advocates the views of the ICT sector with both European and national policy makers. He leads on security and privacy issues as well as broader efforts to improve levels of intellectual property protection and to promote open markets, fair competition, and technology innovation in new areas such as cloud computing.
Prior to joining BSA, Boué served as a consultant in Weber Shandwick where he advised clients on a wide range of technology and ICT-related policy issues and represented them before the EU institutions and industry coalitions. In this role, he also served as policy and regulatory adviser for both EU and US telecom operators. Prior to that Boué worked for the EU office of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry where he was responsible for the lobbying activities towards the EU Institutions in the areas of trade, education, and labor, as well as for the organization and running of seminars on EU affairs for SMEs and business professionals.
Boué holds a Master of Business Administration from the Europa-Insitut (Saarbrücken, Germany), a Certificate of Integrated Legal Studies (trilateral and trilingual Master’s degree in French, English, German and European Law, from the Universities of Warwick (UK), Saarland (Germany) and Lille II (France) as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Law from the University of Lille II, France. He is based in BSA’s Brussels office.
Mr. Rebuffi graduated in Nuclear Engineering at the Politecnico in Milan (1984) before obtaining a PhD in Electronics at Paris – Orsay University (1987).
He worked on the development of high power microwave systems for the future thermonuclear fusion reactor (ITER) in Garching, Germany (1988-1991). Afterwards, he was employed by Thomson CSF to take responsibility for European Affairs (R&D) in different sectors: telecom, industrial, medical, scientific etc (1992-1999). He worked for Thales Microwave, in the position of the Head of Unit for Sales of Telecom Products (2000-2002) and later became promoted for a position of the Thales Director for European Affairs (2003-2007). In this capacity, he was responsible for the development of business and research activities with European Institutions for the civilian activities in Thales.
In 2003, he initiated and from 2007 to 2017 he has been the CEO of the European Organisation for Security (EOS) that gathers the most important European private security stakeholders and public NGOs from supply and demand side to develop and implement European security solutions and services in a comprehensive approach. In 2016, he took over the role of Secretary General of the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO). He contributed to establish in June 2016 an Association with more than 250 members in charge of implementing the Public-Private Partnership contract on European cybersecurity with the European Commission and supporting the development of the full European Cybersecurity Ecosystem.
Visiola follows cybersecurity regulation at EU level and national cybersecurity developments in the UK. She leads the benchmarking analysis reports under the cybersecurity practice, and actively reports on topics such as 5G security, high risk vendors in the cybersecurity supply chain, the EU cybersecurity act and the EU Network and Information Security Directive (NIS Directive).
Visiola joined Cullen International in July 2015, after graduating from the University of Hamburg, Germany in EU Law and Affairs.
As the cyber threat landscape will continue to evolve more rapidly than legislations regulating the space, it is paramount that organisations across Europe develop holistic approaches to cyber security, combining digital technologies with human skills, systems and processes, to prepare and protect themselves against the latest and most sophisticated threats. This session will explore how such integrated approaches look in practice and will discuss what information security management systems and governance frameworks need to be put in place to successfully leverage the role that technology such as AI, ML, ‘digital twins’, blockchain and quantum can play when combined with human expertise. Speakers will debate what is needed for such layered processes to become more mainstream across operations in European organisations when it is recognised that the considerable shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals and low levels of investment across the bloc dampens current efforts to increase cyber resilience.
Possible questions:
Florian Pennings works for Microsoft on EU Cybersecurity Policy. He believes collaboration and multi-stakeholder management is essential to ensure strong cybersecurity. This requires constant engagement and open discussions among peers. Before joining Microsoft, he worked in national and European government agencies responsible for cybersecurity. He coordinated strategic and tactical cooperation with industry and public stakeholders. At Microsoft he contributes to public discussions concerning EU cybersecurity policies like Cyber Resilience Act, NIS2, and Cybersecurity Certification, leveraging his operational and strategic national and European experience. He strongly believes that cooperation is built on trust and common interests, not on differences.
The digital space has increasingly become a ground for cyber and hybrid attacks led by state and non-state actors exploiting the open nature of the internet, targeting critical infrastructures globally, spreading disinformation campaigns, or conducting cyber sabotage and espionage. These trends have accelerated since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine. and have emphasised the urgent need to strengthen the resilience of cyberspace and critical infrastructures around the world. While the EU has stepped up its regulatory efforts in the past years to boost cyber security, protect critical infrastructures, and enhance the security of supply chain, digital products and services within the bloc, these initiatives must remain coherent and complimentary with similar schemes being developed on regional and global levels, as well as with international standards and norms. This session will explore how collaborative global efforts of like-minded partners and a multistakeholder approach can be enhanced to boost the resilience and security of a trusted, borderless cyberspace. It will discuss whether the systems currently in place to build global partnerships around shared understandings of cyber risks, capacity building, information sharing, and coordination on cyber threats detection and response are fit-for-purpose and what more is needed given the global dimension of cyber threats, the rapid emergence of new technologies and the various regional and national digital sovereignty approaches that are surfacing worldwide.
Possible questions:
Kaljurand was elected to the European Parliament and started her duties as MEP on July 2nd, 2019 after resigning from the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu). She is the member of the Estonian Social Democrats Party since June 2018.
Kaljurand is a member of the UN Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters since 2020.
Kaljurand is the co-chair of the Aspen Global Cybersecurity Group, launched in 2022. Kaljurand was a member of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation (2018-2019). She Chaired the Global Commission of the Stability of Cyberspace (2017-2019).
Kaljurand served as Estonian Foreign Minister in 2015-2016.
Kaljurand has served twice as the Estonian National Expert at the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security (GGE), in 2014-2015 and in 2016-2017.
She began her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991 and held several leadership positions, including Undersecretary for Legal and Consular Affairs (Legal Adviser), Undersecretary for Trade and Development Cooperation, Undersecretary for Political Affairs. She served as Ambassador of Estonia to the State of Israel, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Canada and the United States of America. Kaljurand headed the legal working group at the Estonian accession negotiations to the European Union and was the Chief Negotiator in Estonian accession negotiations to the OECD.
Marina Kaljurand graduated cum laude from the Tartu University (1986, LLM). She has a professional diploma from the Estonian School of Diplomacy (1992) and MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (F95).
Iva Tasheva is the co-founder and cybersecurity lead at CYEN, a family-owned micro consultancy established in Brussels in 2018. She helps public and private sector organisations manage cybersecurity governance, risk and compliance (GRC). She has experience in the public, digital, transport, banking, medical devices and non-profit sectors. She is certified ISO 27001 Lead Implementer and ISO 27799 Lead Manager.
In addition to her work for CYEN, she is a Member of the EU Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA) Ad-Hoc Working Groups on Enterprise Security and on Cloud Security (Certification), adviser to Obelis (representation of non-EU based manufacturers in a successful EU Market entry), a Board Member of the DPO Circle (community of GDPR and data security professionals), and a founding member of the Belgian Chapter of Women4Cyber. She was shortlisted for the Belgium’s Cyber Personality of the Year 2022 Award by the Belgian Cybersecurity Coalition.
Follow Iva Tasheva (or CYEN) on LinkedIn for updates on cybersecurity policy and implementation. Follow ‘CYEN – Cybersecurity’ on YouTube for monthly cybersecurity top experts’ interviews.
Today’s geopolitical context and the recent cyber-attacks on space, transport and energy infrastructures on which both the civilian and military realms rely further underline how central the cyber dimension can become in military conflicts. To address the need for better protection, detection, deterrence, and defence against a growing number of cyber threats, the European Cyber Defence Policy was recently released to boost the EU’s cyber defence capacity and bolster cooperation between the civilian and military cyber communities as well as between the public and private sectors. From the improvement of information exchange and early detection of cyber threats via a network of SOCs powered by AI, the development of state-of-the-art cyber defence capabilities through the creation of a technology roadmap for critical cyber technologies to the promotion of the use of emerging and disruptive technologies (EDTs) to inform future military strategies and operations, digital technologies are at the very heart of the European Cyber Defence Policy. This session will discuss how the benefits of digital tech can be best harnessed so that the goals outlined in the European Cyber Defence Policy can be achieved – considering that the EU cyber defence sector currently relies significantly on civilian solutions and external markets and explore the extent to which the EU’s proposed approach to cyber defence will be enough to keep pace with ever-growing sophisticated cyber threats.
Possible questions:
Bio will appear here soon.
Dr. Raluca Csernatoni is a Research Fellow at Carnegie Europe, where she specializes on European security and defence, with a focus on emerging and disruptive technologies. She is also a Team Leader and Research Expert on new technologies for the EU Cyber Direct – EU Cyber Diplomacy Initiative project. Csernatoni is currently a Guest Professor on European security with the Brussels School of Governance and its Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. She is presently a Co-Leader of the ‘Governance of Emerging Technology’ Research Group with the Centre on Security and Crisis Governance, at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Canada. Csernatoni is also a Visiting Professor on technology, security, and high-tech warfare with the Department of International Relations of Central European University, and an Associate Research Expert on ‘Peace Tech’ with the Austrian Centre for Peace, both in Vienna, Austria.
Her published work appeared in academic journals such as European Foreign Affairs Review, European Security, Critical Military Studies, Global Affairs, and European View. She has authored numerous book chapters, policy analysis articles, reports, and commentary pieces on the governance of EU-led defence technological and industrial initiatives, European technological sovereignty and strategic autonomy, and the impact of emerging and disruptive technologies such as drones and Artificial Intelligence on international and European security. Her latest co-edited book, Emerging Security Technologies and EU Governance: Actors, Practices and Processes, was published with Routledge Studies in Conflict, Security and Technology Series in 2020.
Prior to joining Carnegie, Csernatoni was a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at the Charles University’s Institute of Political Studies in Prague, Czechia, where she focused on the impact of new military capabilities and emerging dual-use technologies on the EU’s security and defence architecture. Previously, Csernatoni conducted research on European defence and technological policy at the Faculté des Sciences Sociales et Politiques, Université libre de Bruxelles, the Royal Higher Institute for Defence’s Centre for Security and Defence Studies, and at the International Security Information Service Europe in Brussels, Belgium. She was also a Research Fellow in the Study Program on European Security at the Institute for European Politics in Berlin, Germany.
The EU’s cybersecurity policy agenda has steadily advanced in the past decade. Russia’s war on Ukraine has demonstrated the need for an up-to-date, future-proof regulatory framework that prepares Europe for an ever-growing threat landscape, reinforces the EU’s industrial and technological capacities to reduce dependencies, enhances its strategic autonomy, and drives its leadership in cybersecurity forward. Accelerating the implementation of NIS2 and CER to protect our critical infrastructure is now deemed paramount. Several legislative files and projects aiming to complement the EU Cybersecurity framework are currently in the making. This session will ask if the latest cyber security initiatives that aim to increase trust and security in essential products and services, such as the CRA, the EUCS and other certification and standardisation schemes, are truly fit-for-purpose, and the extent to which they will fulfil the ambition of creating a robust cyber security landscape in which a thriving European cybersecurity market can be developed, allowing the region to become a global leader in this area and supporting its drive for strategic autonomy in the digital domain.
Possible questions:
Miguel A. Amutio studied at La Salle School of Deusto and graduated in Computer Science at Deusto University. Joined the General State Administration in 1995. CISA, CRISC, CISM. With more than twenty-five years of experience in information security issues and in European activities. This includes a large record in coordination of initiatives such as the National Security Framework (ENS) and the National Interoperability Framework (ENI); the direction of the Cybersecurity Operations Center of the General State Administration; leadership of working groups; participation in cybersecurity bodies and groups in National Cybersecurity; participation in committees and working groups of the European Union, the OECD and others international; as well as participation in IT security standardization activities in the fields of Risk Management and Cybersecurity. Member of the Governing Board of the European Cybersecurity Competence Center.
Thomas Boué oversees the BSA | The Software Alliance’s public policy activities in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. He advises BSA members on public policy and legal developments and advocates the views of the ICT sector with both European and national policy makers. He leads on security and privacy issues as well as broader efforts to improve levels of intellectual property protection and to promote open markets, fair competition, and technology innovation in new areas such as cloud computing.
Prior to joining BSA, Boué served as a consultant in Weber Shandwick where he advised clients on a wide range of technology and ICT-related policy issues and represented them before the EU institutions and industry coalitions. In this role, he also served as policy and regulatory adviser for both EU and US telecom operators. Prior to that Boué worked for the EU office of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry where he was responsible for the lobbying activities towards the EU Institutions in the areas of trade, education, and labor, as well as for the organization and running of seminars on EU affairs for SMEs and business professionals.
Boué holds a Master of Business Administration from the Europa-Insitut (Saarbrücken, Germany), a Certificate of Integrated Legal Studies (trilateral and trilingual Master’s degree in French, English, German and European Law, from the Universities of Warwick (UK), Saarland (Germany) and Lille II (France) as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Law from the University of Lille II, France. He is based in BSA’s Brussels office.
Mr. Rebuffi graduated in Nuclear Engineering at the Politecnico in Milan (1984) before obtaining a PhD in Electronics at Paris – Orsay University (1987).
He worked on the development of high power microwave systems for the future thermonuclear fusion reactor (ITER) in Garching, Germany (1988-1991). Afterwards, he was employed by Thomson CSF to take responsibility for European Affairs (R&D) in different sectors: telecom, industrial, medical, scientific etc (1992-1999). He worked for Thales Microwave, in the position of the Head of Unit for Sales of Telecom Products (2000-2002) and later became promoted for a position of the Thales Director for European Affairs (2003-2007). In this capacity, he was responsible for the development of business and research activities with European Institutions for the civilian activities in Thales.
In 2003, he initiated and from 2007 to 2017 he has been the CEO of the European Organisation for Security (EOS) that gathers the most important European private security stakeholders and public NGOs from supply and demand side to develop and implement European security solutions and services in a comprehensive approach. In 2016, he took over the role of Secretary General of the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO). He contributed to establish in June 2016 an Association with more than 250 members in charge of implementing the Public-Private Partnership contract on European cybersecurity with the European Commission and supporting the development of the full European Cybersecurity Ecosystem.
Visiola follows cybersecurity regulation at EU level and national cybersecurity developments in the UK. She leads the benchmarking analysis reports under the cybersecurity practice, and actively reports on topics such as 5G security, high risk vendors in the cybersecurity supply chain, the EU cybersecurity act and the EU Network and Information Security Directive (NIS Directive).
Visiola joined Cullen International in July 2015, after graduating from the University of Hamburg, Germany in EU Law and Affairs.
As the cyber threat landscape will continue to evolve more rapidly than legislations regulating the space, it is paramount that organisations across Europe develop holistic approaches to cyber security, combining digital technologies with human skills, systems and processes, to prepare and protect themselves against the latest and most sophisticated threats. This session will explore how such integrated approaches look in practice and will discuss what information security management systems and governance frameworks need to be put in place to successfully leverage the role that technology such as AI, ML, ‘digital twins’, blockchain and quantum can play when combined with human expertise. Speakers will debate what is needed for such layered processes to become more mainstream across operations in European organisations when it is recognised that the considerable shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals and low levels of investment across the bloc dampens current efforts to increase cyber resilience.
Possible questions:
Florian Pennings works for Microsoft on EU Cybersecurity Policy. He believes collaboration and multi-stakeholder management is essential to ensure strong cybersecurity. This requires constant engagement and open discussions among peers. Before joining Microsoft, he worked in national and European government agencies responsible for cybersecurity. He coordinated strategic and tactical cooperation with industry and public stakeholders. At Microsoft he contributes to public discussions concerning EU cybersecurity policies like Cyber Resilience Act, NIS2, and Cybersecurity Certification, leveraging his operational and strategic national and European experience. He strongly believes that cooperation is built on trust and common interests, not on differences.
The digital space has increasingly become a ground for cyber and hybrid attacks led by state and non-state actors exploiting the open nature of the internet, targeting critical infrastructures globally, spreading disinformation campaigns, or conducting cyber sabotage and espionage. These trends have accelerated since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine. and have emphasised the urgent need to strengthen the resilience of cyberspace and critical infrastructures around the world. While the EU has stepped up its regulatory efforts in the past years to boost cyber security, protect critical infrastructures, and enhance the security of supply chain, digital products and services within the bloc, these initiatives must remain coherent and complimentary with similar schemes being developed on regional and global levels, as well as with international standards and norms. This session will explore how collaborative global efforts of like-minded partners and a multistakeholder approach can be enhanced to boost the resilience and security of a trusted, borderless cyberspace. It will discuss whether the systems currently in place to build global partnerships around shared understandings of cyber risks, capacity building, information sharing, and coordination on cyber threats detection and response are fit-for-purpose and what more is needed given the global dimension of cyber threats, the rapid emergence of new technologies and the various regional and national digital sovereignty approaches that are surfacing worldwide.
Possible questions:
Kaljurand was elected to the European Parliament and started her duties as MEP on July 2nd, 2019 after resigning from the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu). She is the member of the Estonian Social Democrats Party since June 2018.
Kaljurand is a member of the UN Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters since 2020.
Kaljurand is the co-chair of the Aspen Global Cybersecurity Group, launched in 2022. Kaljurand was a member of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation (2018-2019). She Chaired the Global Commission of the Stability of Cyberspace (2017-2019).
Kaljurand served as Estonian Foreign Minister in 2015-2016.
Kaljurand has served twice as the Estonian National Expert at the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security (GGE), in 2014-2015 and in 2016-2017.
She began her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991 and held several leadership positions, including Undersecretary for Legal and Consular Affairs (Legal Adviser), Undersecretary for Trade and Development Cooperation, Undersecretary for Political Affairs. She served as Ambassador of Estonia to the State of Israel, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Canada and the United States of America. Kaljurand headed the legal working group at the Estonian accession negotiations to the European Union and was the Chief Negotiator in Estonian accession negotiations to the OECD.
Marina Kaljurand graduated cum laude from the Tartu University (1986, LLM). She has a professional diploma from the Estonian School of Diplomacy (1992) and MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (F95).
Iva Tasheva is the co-founder and cybersecurity lead at CYEN, a family-owned micro consultancy established in Brussels in 2018. She helps public and private sector organisations manage cybersecurity governance, risk and compliance (GRC). She has experience in the public, digital, transport, banking, medical devices and non-profit sectors. She is certified ISO 27001 Lead Implementer and ISO 27799 Lead Manager.
In addition to her work for CYEN, she is a Member of the EU Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA) Ad-Hoc Working Groups on Enterprise Security and on Cloud Security (Certification), adviser to Obelis (representation of non-EU based manufacturers in a successful EU Market entry), a Board Member of the DPO Circle (community of GDPR and data security professionals), and a founding member of the Belgian Chapter of Women4Cyber. She was shortlisted for the Belgium’s Cyber Personality of the Year 2022 Award by the Belgian Cybersecurity Coalition.
Follow Iva Tasheva (or CYEN) on LinkedIn for updates on cybersecurity policy and implementation. Follow ‘CYEN – Cybersecurity’ on YouTube for monthly cybersecurity top experts’ interviews.
Today’s geopolitical context and the recent cyber-attacks on space, transport and energy infrastructures on which both the civilian and military realms rely further underline how central the cyber dimension can become in military conflicts. To address the need for better protection, detection, deterrence, and defence against a growing number of cyber threats, the European Cyber Defence Policy was recently released to boost the EU’s cyber defence capacity and bolster cooperation between the civilian and military cyber communities as well as between the public and private sectors. From the improvement of information exchange and early detection of cyber threats via a network of SOCs powered by AI, the development of state-of-the-art cyber defence capabilities through the creation of a technology roadmap for critical cyber technologies to the promotion of the use of emerging and disruptive technologies (EDTs) to inform future military strategies and operations, digital technologies are at the very heart of the European Cyber Defence Policy. This session will discuss how the benefits of digital tech can be best harnessed so that the goals outlined in the European Cyber Defence Policy can be achieved – considering that the EU cyber defence sector currently relies significantly on civilian solutions and external markets and explore the extent to which the EU’s proposed approach to cyber defence will be enough to keep pace with ever-growing sophisticated cyber threats.
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Dr. Raluca Csernatoni is a Research Fellow at Carnegie Europe, where she specializes on European security and defence, with a focus on emerging and disruptive technologies. She is also a Team Leader and Research Expert on new technologies for the EU Cyber Direct – EU Cyber Diplomacy Initiative project. Csernatoni is currently a Guest Professor on European security with the Brussels School of Governance and its Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. She is presently a Co-Leader of the ‘Governance of Emerging Technology’ Research Group with the Centre on Security and Crisis Governance, at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Canada. Csernatoni is also a Visiting Professor on technology, security, and high-tech warfare with the Department of International Relations of Central European University, and an Associate Research Expert on ‘Peace Tech’ with the Austrian Centre for Peace, both in Vienna, Austria.
Her published work appeared in academic journals such as European Foreign Affairs Review, European Security, Critical Military Studies, Global Affairs, and European View. She has authored numerous book chapters, policy analysis articles, reports, and commentary pieces on the governance of EU-led defence technological and industrial initiatives, European technological sovereignty and strategic autonomy, and the impact of emerging and disruptive technologies such as drones and Artificial Intelligence on international and European security. Her latest co-edited book, Emerging Security Technologies and EU Governance: Actors, Practices and Processes, was published with Routledge Studies in Conflict, Security and Technology Series in 2020.
Prior to joining Carnegie, Csernatoni was a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at the Charles University’s Institute of Political Studies in Prague, Czechia, where she focused on the impact of new military capabilities and emerging dual-use technologies on the EU’s security and defence architecture. Previously, Csernatoni conducted research on European defence and technological policy at the Faculté des Sciences Sociales et Politiques, Université libre de Bruxelles, the Royal Higher Institute for Defence’s Centre for Security and Defence Studies, and at the International Security Information Service Europe in Brussels, Belgium. She was also a Research Fellow in the Study Program on European Security at the Institute for European Politics in Berlin, Germany.
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To discuss sponsorship and visibility opportunities at the 10th Annual European Cyber Security Conference, please contact Anne-Lise Simon on [email protected] / +44 (0) 2920 783 023.
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The European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO) ASBL is a fully self-financed non-for-profit organisation under the Belgian law, established in June 2016.
ECSO is the privileged partner of the European Commission for the implementation of the Cybersecurity Public-Private Partnership, as well as a recognised actor in the European institutional landscape, A pan European, multi-stakeholder and cross sectoral partnership organisation working on cybersecurity with a holistic approach, ECSO federates the European Cybersecurity public and private sector, including large companies, SMEs and start-ups, research centres, universities, end-users and operators of essential services, clusters and associations, as well as the local, regional and national public administrations across the European Union Members States, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and H2020 Programme associated countries.
BSA | The Software Alliance is the leading advocate for the global software industry before governments and in the international marketplace. Its members are among the world’s most innovative companies, creating software solutions that spark the economy and improve modern life. With headquarters in Washington, DC, and operations in more than 30 countries, BSA pioneers compliance programs that promote legal software use and advocates for public policies that foster technology innovation and drive growth in the digital economy.
Every company has a mission. What’s ours? To empower every person and every organization to achieve more. We believe technology can and should be a force for good and that meaningful innovation contributes to a brighter world in the future and today. Our culture doesn’t just encourage curiosity; it embraces it. Each day we make progress together by showing up as our authentic selves. We show up with a learn-it-all mentality. We show up cheering on others, knowing their success doesn’t diminish our own. We show up every day open to learning our own biases, changing our behavior, and inviting in differences. When we show up, we achieve more together. Microsoft operates in 190 countries and is made up of more than 220,000 passionate employees worldwide.
Sectra is a cybersecurity company with a core expertise in encryption technology, providing secure communication solutions for European government authorities, EU and NATO institutions, defense departments and other critical functions of society. Sectra has worked together with the EU institutions for several years and more than half of the EU member states use the Sectra Tiger system to exchange classified information on national and international levels.
Our secure communication solution Sectra Tiger/S allows you to share classified information up to the SECRET classification level through encrypted voice, messaging and data transfer. It is approved by the EU and NATO and developed in close cooperation with the Dutch security authorities. With its unique interoperability features, Sectra Tiger/S enables secure communications across nations and organizations, between security levels and for mission-based satcom use.
Encompass is an online magazine delivering comment, opinion and analysis on the affairs of the European Union and Europe’s place in the world. We aim to demystify the complexity of the EU and to be lively and provocative. Encompass is also a space with podcast interviews and, through Encompass Live, political and cultural events. As our name indicates we will strive to be open and accessible.
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