Irish Minister of State for Trade Promotion and Digitalisation Visits HSD Campus

A ministerial party headed by Robert Troy (Irish Minister of State with responsibility for Trade Promotion and Digitalisation at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment) visited the HSD Campus to sit down for a cybersecurity roundtable discussion. Participants were Joanna Świątkowska (Chief Operating Officer at European Cyber Security Organisation), Thierry Lammers (CEO of Blaud B.V.), Stephen Keogh (Market Advisor, Cyber, IoT and Telecommunication at Enterprise Ireland Benelux), and Joris den Bruinen (Director at Security Delta (HSD)).

The minister attended the roundtable to find out how best to tackle certain issues when it comes to cyber talent. Ireland is facing a shortage of talent when it comes to cybersecurity. Den Bruinen mentioned that public private collaboration and trust among the players involved was key for overcoming this issue.

Collaboration as Key

“It can be easy to write policy”, den Bruinen said, “but in reality, it is hard work every day with a long-term goal in mind. A cultural shift within governmental institutions is required when it comes to public procurement and sovereignty of EU cybersecurity products. Buyers within the government should be given space to collaborate on innovations and take risks if needed.”

Den Bruinen also called for a level of trust when it comes to collaboration. “Collaborations need to be trust-based to bridge the gap between education institutes and the labour market. This is necessary because the education sector needs the talent pool since that is where they find their teachers. Those looking for talent need to be willing to give as well as take. We need one another to enlarge the talent pool and prevent focus on the short term by a singular organisation.”

The 'Made in Europe' Label

The European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO) was present to speak about the way EU institutions are handling cyber threats. ECSO is a network of European clusters such as Security Delta (HSD), which the organisation collaborates with on the global EPIC. The completion of the NIS 2 directive, which was proposed in late 2020, was also of interest to Troy. Ms. Świątkowska also explained how this directive came to be, and what facets were taken into consideration to address the deficiencies of the precious directive. Furthermore, ECSO developed a ‘Made in Europe’ label for cybersecurity companies, which HSD will supervise in the Netherlands.

Labels such as this could be especially interesting for companies such as Blaud. Blaud is a company with expertise in optimizing mobile work for safety, specializing in mobile device management and development of innovative apps. Thierry Lammers, CEO of Blaud talked about their takeover by an Irish company, as well as the partnership with similar niche players in Europe. He foresees, as the others at the table, that international cooperation between countries, Cyber clusters and trade organisation would be mutual beneficial for all and make Europe and the world more economically and cyber resilient. The meeting ended with plans to fortify the collaboration between all present organisations in the nearby future.