CONVERGENCE 2024

CONVERGENCE 2024 was a two-day single track event held over the course of 14-15 November in conjunction with EU-CHECK and other partners, hosted with the friendly support of the Representation of the State of Hessen to the EU at rue Montoyer 21 in Brussels.

One of the objectives in the aftermath of the four cybersecurity pilot projects is to strengthen the cybersecurity community in Europe and working to that end are representatives from TDL, the EU-CHECK (led by CNRS) and CyberSecPro projects.

Pre-Conference Meeting

Thursday, 14 November 2024

• Cybersecurity centres of expertise, roadmap issues with regards to governance, expertise development, technical leadership, deployment/adoption and capabilities, usability by design (lifting locks through use cases and demonstrating scientific and technological know-how in cyber before large-scale deployment), business ROI (awareness activities, co-innovation, open innovation)
• Curricula programmes definition in direct link with the cybersecurity skills in education

12:00 Close

CONVERGENCE 2024 Agenda

Thursday, 14 November 2024

Theme: Capacity Building

14:00 Welcome

• René Schulz, Hessian Ministry of the Interior, Security and Homeland Security

14:10 Opening Keynote: Filling in the Identity Gaps

• Jacoba Sieders, Independent Digital Identity and IAM Expert

14:30 Skills & Education

• Sascha Weh, Chief of Division for Peace Brussels Office, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
• Ricardo Gregorio Lugo, Senior Researcher and Lead, Human Factors Research Group, Estonian Maritime Academy, Tallinn University of Technology
• Komitas Stepanyan, Director of Technology and Cybersecurity, Central Bank of Armenia; Lecturer, American University of Armenia
• Domenico Ferrara, Cybersecurity Officer, ENISA

Moderator: Christos Douligeris, Professor, Department of Informatics, University of Piraeus Research Centre

16:00 Tea & coffee break

16:30 Research & Innovation

• Kai Rannenberg, Chair for Mobile Business and Multilateral Security, Goethe University Frankfurt
• Afonso Ferreira, Research Director, CNRS – IRIT (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse
• Marko Hölbl, Associate Professor and Vice Dean for Research, University of Maribor, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Sonia Ben Mokhtar, Senior Researcher, CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
• Christos Douligeris, Professor, Department of Informatics, University of Piraeus Research Centre

Moderator: Evangelos Markatos, Professor Head, Distributed Computing Systems and Cyber Security Research Lab, University of Crete and FORTH

Evening Programme

18:00 Welcome reception

19:00 Evening discussion

• René Schulz, Hessian Ministry of the Interior, Security and Homeland Security
• Svetla Nikova, Chair, Trust in Digital Life

19:10 Keynote address: The New European Landscape

• Katarzyna Prusak–Górniak, Head of Digital Affairs Unit, Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the EU; Vice Chair of the Governing Board of the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC)

Distinguished panellists:

• Andrea Servida, Former Head of Unit, Knowledge Management and Innovative Systems, DG CONNECT
• Rodica Tirtea, Senior Policy Officer, European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC)
• Sébastien Ziegler, President of the IoT Forum, and European Centre for Certification and Privacy
• Riccardo Masucci, Head of Brussels Office, Managing Director EU Affairs, Intel Corporation
• Cornelia Kutterer, Managing Director Brussels Office, Considerati

Moderator: David Goodman, Senior Consultant, Trust in Digital Life

20:30 Social reception

Friday, 15 November 2024

Theme: Looking To The Future

09:00 The European Cyber Youth Network: Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure 

• Tina Marjanov, PhD candidate, University of Cambridge
• Julien Malka, Polytechnic Institute of Paris
• Daniele Canavese, Cybersecurity Research Scientist, AI and Machine Learning Specialist, IRIT (Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse)

Moderator: Winnie Mbaka, PhD Candidate, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

10:00 Data & Digital Sovereignty

• Jacoba Sieders, Independent Digital Identity and IAM Expert
• Patrik Hummel, Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Philosophy & Ethics Group, TU Eindhoven
• Rocco Bellanova, Research Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) / Law, Science, Technology & Society (LSTS)
• David Goodman, Senior Consultant, Trust in Digital Life

Moderator: Sébastien Ziegler, President of the IoT Forum, and European Centre for Certification and Privacy

11:00 Tea & coffee break 

11:30 Global Challenges & Technologies

• Jean-Yves Marion, Professor, Université de Lorraine and Director of LORIA [Software Updates (NotPetya/Crowdstrike) & Supply Chains]
• Daniele Canavese, Cybersecurity Research Scientist, AI and Machine Learning Specialist, IRIT (Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse) [Privacy with Emerging Technologies]
• Sonia Ben Mokhtar, Senior Researcher, CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Moderator: Afonso Ferreira, Research Director, CNRS – IRIT (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse)

12:30 Lunch 

13:30 Post Quantum Cryptography

• Steve Purser, Former Head of Operations, ENISA
• Bart Preneel, Professor, COSIC (Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography group), KU Leuven
• Rodica Tirtea, Senior Policy Officer, ECCC (European Cybersecurity Competence Centre)
• Michiel Marcus, Cryptography Researcher, Applied Cryptography and Quantum Algorithms, TNO

Moderator: Svetla Nikova, Research Manager, COSIC, KU Leuven

14:30 Closing keynote

• Tom Van Den Bosch, Chief Product Officer, itsme

15:00 Close