Identifying common vision, similar needs and challenges between the 2 cybersecurity ecosystems
Providing a forum for exchanging good practices and investigating new business opportunities in the field of cyber security and privacy between the European Union and Japan
The discussions between the leading cyber security industries and governmental institutions from the EU and Japan were held in the context of the recently negotiated and ratified EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EUJEPA), with the aim to identify common vision, similar needs and challenges between the two cyber security ecosystems, as well as business approaches to cyber security offerings and the needs of the vertical sectors.
In his opening remarks, Jakub Boratynski, Head of Unit for Cyber Security and Digital Privacy at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), said that in today’s complex international environment, the importance and value of closer cooperation between the European Union and Japan on cyber security and innovation is growing. Reiko Kondo, Director of the Office of the Director-General for Cyber Security at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan, added that the need and the added value of the EU-Japan cooperation is well recognised and welcome in Japan. In addition to these two opening remarks, Herve Debar, Professor at the Institut-Mines-Telecom (IMT) and Coordinator of the H2020 EUNITY EU-Japan project, informed the audience of the EUNITY project activities and main results.
During the working sessions, the emphasis was given to the business solutions applied to the selected ‘vertical sectors’, in order to discuss the existing capabilities and challenges faced by the industry. Mutual recognition of standards, the exchange of best practices in cyber-ranges and exercises for C-level managers and support to business development for SMEs have been identified as the potential topics for further cooperation.
A European perspective on the cyber security market was presented by ECSO member LSEC, a Belgium-based information security cluster. The main challenges and sectoral insights in the healthcare, financial and energy industries were presented by the ECSO members GMV, Intesa Sanpaolo and Schneider Electric. ECSO member Tecnalia shared valuable insights on the cyber security challenges in the Internet of Things (IoT). ECSO also presented the existing training and cyber ranges initiatives in Europe and the challenges of the cyber security certification and supply chain management.
The NEC Corporation, Japanese communications and IT infrastructure provider, presented the main activities in eliminating the cyber security skills gap in Japan, undertaken by the Cyber Risks Intelligence Centre of Japan. Finally, the Basque Cyber Security Centre and the Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (JPCERT) shared their insights on global cooperation and the related information sharing challenges.
The event was also attended by the representatives of the internationally renowned companies from Japan and the European Union, including Atos, Siemens, SAP Software Solutions, Hitachi, Futjisu, Softbank, Panasonic, TrendMicro and Broadband Security, as well as European SMEs, such as Diateam, Emaze and Cybelius. The event was also attended by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, French National Centre for Scientific Research and NARA Institute of Science and Technology of Japan.
Drawing on the high interest and the successful debates of the first workshop, the second workshop on the EU-Japan cooperation in the field of cyber security is foreseen to take place by the end of 2019.
