State Visit by King and Queen of Spain: Cybersecurity and Fintech in the Spotlight

His Majesty King Felipe VI and Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain are visiting the Netherlands on 17 and 18 April at the invitation of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander. Political cooperation between the Netherlands and Spain has increased the past few years, in several areas including open strategic autonomy and organised crime. As part of this visit His Majesty the King of Spain gave an opening speech for the Spain - The Netherlands Business Summit in Kurhaus The Hague, where the topics of cybersecurity and fintech were given the spotlight.

The inaugural session of the Business Summit was chaired by His Majesty the King of Spain and His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, with His Majesty the King of The Netherlands attending. Master of Ceremonies was Chris van Voorden, Director Foreign Investments & Trade at InnovationQuarter. Welcoming addresses were given by Micky Adriaansens, Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy of the Netherlands, and Xiana Mendez, Secretary of State for Trade and President of ICEX Spain Trade and Investment.

Panel discussion: importance of technology and innovation

A panel moderated by Elisa Carbonell (CEO ICEX Spain Trade and Investment) and consisting of Ingrid Thijssen (President of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers VNO-NCW), Antonio Garamendi (President of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations CEOE), José Luis Bonet (President of the Chamber of Commerce Spain), and Annette Wijering (Director of International Programmes Netherlands Enterprise Agency RVO) engaged in a discussion on the value of international business, and the importance of technology and innovation to achieve economic security. Afterwards His Royal Highness Prince Constantijn, Special Envoy of Techleap was interviewed by Innosapiens founder Graham Cross.

Breakout session: Cyber Security

The programme continued with a breakout session on Cybersecurity, where the role of cybersecurity as the new backbone of the company was discussed. In addition, introductions to the Dutch and Spanish cybersecurity ecosystems were given. Panellists of this breakout session were:

• Dennis de Hoog (CEO Computest)
• Joris den Bruinen (General Director Security Delta (HSD))
• Emmarique Delahaije (Investment Manager KPN)
• David Barroso (Founder of CounterCraft)
• Pilar Vila (Co-founder & CEO of Forensic & Security)
• Régis Cazenave (CEO Europe S2 Grupo)
• Moderator: Martijn van Hoogenhuijze (Teamlead Foreign Investments at InnovationQuarter)

HSD Director Joris den Bruinen: “I was proud and humbled to be invited during this state visit to help represent the Dutch cybersecurity ecosystem in the Netherlands during the Business Summit. There are many opportunities and challenges to be found in terms of collaboration on cybersecurity between our countries. Finding the perfect partner – collaboration or investment – is essential, in which InnovationQuarter and Security Delta (HSD) are happy to assist. Many great examples of successful collaboration can be found in the stories of S2Grupo, CounterCraft, Computest and KPN Ventures.”

Breakout session: Fintech

Simultaneously a breakout session on fintech took place, where an introduction on both countries’ fintech ecosystems was provided by Louis Geoffroy-Terryn, Tech Research Lead at Dealroom. The panel, moderated by Yeni Joseph (Head of Ecosystems and Public Policy at The Next Web), discussed the challenges and opportunities that innovation within the financial sectors brings with it. Panellists of this breakout session were:

• Willem Heeringa (Head of Strategy/Supervisory Policy, DNB)
• Jorissa Neutelings (Chief Digital Officer at ABN AMRO)
• Jos van de Kerkhof (Country Manager at Visa Netherlands)
• Sandra Nolasco (CEO at Twinco Capital)
• Martín Azcue (New Projects and Innovation Lead at Bizum)
• Arturo González-Mac-Dowell (President Spanish Association of FinTech and InsurTech)