ITEA Cyber Security Day 2021

Building further on the cyber security topic that was addressed in the Cyber Security customer workshop in June 2020, ITEA organised the ITEA Cyber Security Day on 15 January 2021. This webinar brought together organisations facing cyber security challenges and relevant ITEA project partners to share challenges, best practices and innovative ideas to improve cyber security and overcome challenges in the industry.

Sharing challenges and ideas and enhancing collaboration

First of all, the event was a perfect opportunity to look at how collaboration can be further enhanced by sharing existing challenges and best practices in cyber security. Furthermore, the ITEA Cyber Security Day served the objectives of learning about cyber security related ITEA results of our running and (nearly) finished R&D projects and discovering the latest trends in the domain.

With nearly 100 registrations coming from 16 countries, the online event showed the relevance of the cyber security topic. After a welcome by ITEA Vice-chairman Jean-François Lavignon, the programme was structured in three sessions:

• Session I - Exchange on best practices and challenges
  Cyber security customers addressed the cyber security challenges they experience, shared their best practices and identified gaps that need to be filled.
  
  
• Session II – Showcase of projects’ results
  Project leaders of running and (nearly) finished ITEA projects presented their projects and results to inform cyber security customers about the innovative solutions that are about to become available.
  
  
• Session III - Presentation of project proposal and feedback from customers
  Project leaders that are preparing an ITEA Full Project Proposal for ITEA 3 Call 7 presented their ideas and approach to inform cyber security customers about the latest innovations that could be interesting when it comes to solving their existing challenges. Customers also had the opportunity to provide feedback on the project proposals or even join a project consortium.

ITEA Chairwoman Zeynep Sarılar concluded the day and informed the participants about the purpose and benefits of the Cyber Security Advisory Board.

Joining forces to tackle cyber security threats

Throughout the day, several panellists addressed the transnational nature of cyber security and emphasised the importance of bringing together key actors to join forces to tackle the cyber security threats faced. Jean-François Lavignon, ITEA Vice-chairman and moderator of the event, stated: “With the digital transition, critical systems are more and more exposed to cyber security threats. Only a collaborative approach can tackle this challenge and provide resilient systems for industry, economy and society. The ITEA Community has the potential to develop innovative solutions for these cyber security issues.”

The same message was emphasised in the recent interview ‘A vaccine for cyber security’ in which Atos’ CTO Sophie Proust stated, “We have to take the threats seriously and fight the few with the force of the many.”

To progress further, ITEA has established the Cyber Security Advisory Board, where customers can easily meet their peers in an open discussion and directly exchange with the ITEA R&D&I Community in a trusted environment. This Advisory Board and its importance will continue to grow, being part of ITEA’s focus on customer engagement and open collaboration.

We thank all participants for bringing their expertise and experience to the table and engaging in a such a fruitful and open exchange.

Join us at our next online event!

On 16 March 2021, ITEA will organise the ITEA Smart City Day 2021, where cities that want to be at the forefront of innovation will be gathered together with Smart city-relevant ITEA project partners.

More information about the ITEA Smart City Day 2021:

https://itea3.org/itea-smart-city-day-2021.html