Looking Back at ONE Conference 2026

What a 2-day conference it was! The ONE Conference 2026 brought together many visitors from all over the world with the aim to share knowledge and make new connections within the international cybersecurity community. The conference was opened by Jan van Zanen (Mayor of the Municipality of The Hague) and Willemijn Aerdts (Dutch State Secretary for the Digital Economy and Sovereignty). They emphasesed the impact of emerging technologies on our digital security and that we need to pick up the pace. Van Zanen: "In every threat lies an opportunity... not only to defend ourselves, but to innovate and thrive." Cooperation, Secure by Design and talent diversity are key.

The second day David van Weel, Dutch Minister of Jusitice & Security welcomed the visitors. Followed by a keynote of Verena Zimmermann, assistant professor ETH Zurich, Department for Security, Privacy and Society. She explored the origins of the “weakest link” paradigm, explain why it’s time to challenge it, and outline how organisations can move beyond basic compliance and usability considerations.

 The ONE Conference programme was spread across 9 rooms featuring talks, workshops, panels, deep dives and other interactive set-ups. In addition, visitors could also join many interactive activities:

• The Expo featured 32 innovative start-ups, that showcased their innovations, amongst HSD partners AdversIQ, Awareways, Beyond Products, EclecticIQ, ESET, Fox-IT, KEY2XS, Keypasco, Merlon, MindYourPass, ON2IT
  
  
• The ONE Talent Hub, where young professionals and talent organisations came to together to connect, inspire, and explore new opportunities. 
  
  
• Matchmaking programme, with all-important networking moments, from the networking lunch and drinks to a brand-new matchmaking app.
  
  
• Capital Area, where innovation met funding.
  
  
• CWN Level up zone, the place where experts were challenged with brain games, lego challenges and other games. 

Knowledge Sessions & Speakers

91 knowledge sessions were part of the programme, with speakers from all over the world. Amongst the spreakers were several HSD partners, including ESET Nederland, Politie Nederland, TNO, Bureau Veritas Cybersecurity, Women In Cybersecurity Community Association, Hogeschool Saxion, CFLW Cyber Strategies, Accenture, TU Delft, Universiteit Leiden, Openbaar Ministerie, Attic Security, Gemeente Den Haag, NCC-NL, RAND Europe, Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat, European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), Ferm Zeehavens, Z-CERT, De Nederlandsche Bank, NCTV and The Hague University of Applied Sciences.

You can find all the highlight of the sessions in the Recap Hub and watch the recordings of the main stage sessions, from 8 Oct. Simply select the Main Stage (KWA) sessions and watch each recording at your convenience. All sessions (except the non-publicity sessions) are available in the Recap Hub. You can read the summaries of these sessions and view the slides, where these have been made available by the speakers.

Cyber Competence Shortages

To adress the challenge on cyber competence shortage, HSD contibuted to the ONE Talent Hub and a paneldiscussion about bridging the cybersecurity skills gap. Mark Ruijsendaal was one of the panellist and shared his experience and insights from the Cadmus Project.

From the HSD booth at the ONE Talent Hub our colleagues showed the visitors the possibilities of the Security Talent platform and our new competence tools which can provide help to map your competences (needs). More info >

ONE Podcast

Did you miss the ONE Podcast during the conference? Check out the podcasts here!

And mark your calendar: next edition ONE Conference is 5 & 6 October 2026. 

Watch the recap video of Day 1:

The ONE conference is organised by The Dutch Government, National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-NL) and Municipality of The Hague and took place at World Forum The Hague.

Photo & video credits: Holland Park Media (and HSD)