CONVERGENCE NEXT focussed on the future of the community, the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC) and looked at the key issues for cybersecurity in the future.  This was a not-to-be-missed event for those interested in European cybersecurity issues.  High-level representatives from EU institutions discussed the role of the ECCC and that of the wider stakeholder community in the next stages.  

The first day set the scene with a review of how we got to where we are today from the perspectives of the four pilots, ECSO and EARTO. One session investigated the key explorations on how the wider cybersecurity community should be governed in the future in the context of the ECCC and the national competence centres. The proceedings concluded with an evening panel discussion, moderated by Kai Rannenberg, CyberSec4Europe coordinator, featuring representatives from the Board of the ECCC, the European Commission, ECSO and the German national cybersecurity competence centre. This was followed by an evening social event.

The next day dived into more of the detailed results of the work of the pilots over the last three years with a focus on research and innovation, highlighting the work carried out by the pilots, individually as well jointly, on cybersecurity roadmapping and industrial demonstrator use cases.

The last day moved from where we’ve come from and what we’ve been doing to look at the sustainability of the community and expanding the impact of the momentum created by the pilots. One focus was on the vital role education and building capacity play as well as how this contributes to the evolution of the European cybersecurity ecosystem. The conference finished with a panel discussion involving more of the key stakeholder representatives who were asked the simple but intriguing question, “What Next?”. No doubt, given the uncertain times we live in, we all look forward to monitoring the progress of cybersecurity research and innovation over the coming months and years.

More information on #convergencenext can be found at cybercompetencenetwork.eu and catch up when videos of the conference sessions are made available.