ECSO focuses on cybersecurity in regional ecosystems at the European Week of Regions and Cities and the European Cybersecurity Month
ECSO focuses on cybersecurity in regional ecosystems
As an Advisory and
Communication Partner of the Interreg Europe CYBER project, ECSO brought together cybersecurity experts from the European
Commission, European Parliament, the project’s lead partner and seven regions with
their related territorial agencies, the Institute for Business Competitiveness
(ICE), TIIN Capital and Le Poool/La
French Tech Rennes Saint-Malo to promote and highlight the role of regions in advancing Europe’s
cybersecurity strategy.
Despite their great
cybersecurity potential, their
capacity in building trust amongst local cybersecurity stakeholders and establish effective response
mechanisms and preventive measures against cyberthreats,
European regions
often
hold a backseat position
in Europe’s
cybersecurity framework. With cybersecurity becoming an even more
important aspect in the daily lives of European citizens, regional ecosystems play even
more a crucial role in shaping the
future European Digital Innovation, which is why ECSO, through the
Interreg Europe CYBER project, hosted a side event at the European Week of Regions
and Cities and the European Cybersecurity Month.
High level speakers discussed lessons learned from
Interreg Europe Cyber and future ambitions to consolidate the European
cybersecurity market, and shared ideas on how the European Union can foster
inter-regional cooperation, how private investors use scouting for local
opportunities and the need for European cooperation to support the growth of
cybersecurity companies.
“This event proved that we need something for which we
at ECSO have long been advocating: cooperation and coordination for common
added value and defragmentation”, said Luigi Rebuffi, ECSO Secretary General. “Cooperation
among European regions and coordination with other cybersecurity stakeholders
is key, not only because we can all learn from each other, but also because we
can approach joint investments. Partnerships and coordination are needed to
overcome the current fragmentation at European level in cybersecurity and to
help SMEs and startups to scale up and enter the European and global market”,
he added.
The ECSO team is already working on a set of
initiatives moving towards this direction, the last one being the launch with the
European Investment Bank and the European Commission of a feasibility
study on the design and set-up of a European Cybersecurity Investment Platform
(ECIP).
The event closed with a pitch session, introducing the
good practices, policy experiences of the Interreg Europe CYBER project
partners and B2B networking sessions.
To stay up to date with the latest news on cohesion
policies at regional level, follow Interreg Europe CYBER on Twitter.