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.

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