On Thursday 14 July 2016 the SECURITYMADEIN.LU initiative announced that the contract for a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) between the European Commission and the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO) ASBL has been signed at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

SECURITYMADEIN.LU is an online initiative addressing cyber security in Luxembourg, providing news and important information about online security issues. The Public-Private-Partnership aims at promoting the cybersecurity industry in Europe on strategic research and innovation (R&I).

The ECSO will be working directly with the European Commission, focusing on bettering Europe’s industrial policy with a focus on innovation and superseding a strategic R&I roadmap.

The PPP will work to build trust among Member States, industrial actors and end-users. It is to do so by cultivating bottom-up cooperation on strategic R&I and constituting a unified and competitive cybersecurity market in Europe in areas such as energy, transport, health and finance. The PPP consists of ECSO member representatives of 48 public and private organisations from 14 different countries.

Commissioner Oettinger commented “Europe needs high quality, affordable and interoperable cybersecurity products and services. There is a major opportunity for our cybersecurity industry to compete in a fast-growing global market. We call on Member States and all cybersecurity bodies to strengthen cooperation and pool their knowledge, information and expertise to increase Europe’s cyber resilience. The milestone partnership on cybersecurity signed today with the industry is a major step”.

Luigi Rebuffi, CEO of the European Organisation for Security (EOS) and interim Chairman of ESCO, stated “Signing this contractual partnership with the European Commission represents a pivotal step in public-private cooperation for the advancement of cyber security R&I and the growth of a competitive cyber security and ICT industry in Europe. ECSO is a fast growing organisation which has received, as of today, more than 120 membership applications. This shows the strong commitment from all cyber security players to develop a sustainable market in Europe ensuring digital autonomy and contributing to the goals of the Digital Single Market”.

“We are proud to be part of this initiative and we believe the entire Luxembourg Ecosystem can highly benefit from such a cooperation. At SECURITYMADEIN.LU, our aim is to bring together information security actors and experts, and share best practices, knowledge and competences. Today, we comprise around 100 members, active in the cybersecurity field. This European cooperation will broaden even further the initial sharing and cooperation amongst the different players and members”, said Pascal Steichen, CEO of SECURITYMADEIN.LU.