Million euro baby - What’s next for EU funding in cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is now a central focus for the EU, national governments, regional authorities, and the private sector. Increasing the EU’s cyber resilience requires capacity building, strengthening infrastructure, supporting businesses and research, thus ultimately... funding.

The EU has an extensive and evolving body of legislation to better prevent and respond to cyber threats, and an arsenal of funding instruments to promote capacity building, encourage R&D and support European SMEs.

As initiatives such as the Digital Europe Programme get off the ground, the International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC) is delighted to invite you to a Brussels discussion with:

• Phédra Clouner, Deputy Director of the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium and member of the FIC Advisory Board
• Miguel Gonzalez-Sancho, Head of Unit for Cybersecurity at DG CONNECT and Acting Executive Director of the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre and Network 
• Luigi Rebuffi, Secretary General of ECSO 
• A representative from Ace Capital

The debate will tackle questions including:

• What do cybersecurity stakeholders see as funding priorities today?
• How far is digital sovereignty a guiding principle for European funding?
• How efficient have funding instruments been to date, and how does the EC plan to measure the success of new instruments, such as the DEP?
• What type of funding instruments do Europe’s startups and SMEs need today?
• How do national and European funding initiatives compare, how far are they complementary, and where do gaps still lie?
• What balance between public and private investment at EU level?
• How can the EU square the circle between long-term R&D needs and more immediate capability requirements?