CYBERSEC CEE EXPO & FORUM 2024

SIDE EVENTS & SPECIAL FORMATS

CEE ROUNDTABLE

19 June, 14:00-16:00 CET (Budapeszt A room)

Organized by the Digital Poland Association and CEE Digital Coalition, this roundtable will bring together representatives from the CEE regions to discuss the current state of CEE cybersecurity cooperation and provide recommendations on how to strengthen such collaboration.

Side event lead: Michał Kanownik – President of Digital Poland Association (ZIPSEE)

CONSULTATIONS ON NIS2 IMPLEMENTATION

20 June, 11:00-13:00 CET (Lwów A room)

A platform for policymakers, industry leaders and stakeholders to share their experiences and deliberate on the practical aspects of the NIS2 implementation experiences.

Side event lead: TBA

Andy Garth
Director of Government Affairs, ESET

Andy Garth is Director of Government Affairs at ESET. A former British Ambassador and diplomat with postings/assignments in Central/Eastern Europe, Middle East, South/South East Asia and Far East. Andy works with national and international bodies regarding cyber policy, regulation, cyber diplomacy and threat intelligence.

Jeff Bullwinkel
VP & Deputy General Counsel, Corporate External & Legal Affairs, Microsoft EMEA, Microsoft

Jeff Bullwinkel serves as Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Corporate External & Legal Affairs, Microsoft EMEA. He is based in London and oversees the company’s legal and corporate affairs teams across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, providing support for commercial transactions and regulatory counsel on public policy issues relating among other things to cybersecurity, data privacy, artificial intelligence, digital safety, competition, and international trade.

Mr. Bullwinkel joined Microsoft in 2000 and previously held a number of senior roles with the company across the Asia Pacific region, based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Mr. Bullwinkel was with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, an international law firm based in New York. Mr. Bullwinkel also served as a federal prosecutor with the Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, US Department of Justice, where he was responsible for a wide range of matters relating to international law.

Mr. Bullwinkel is originally from the New York area. He graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received his law degree from New York University. He is a member of the New York State Bar.

Col. Michał Żołnierowicz
Head of Branch, International R&T Cooperation, Department of Innovation, Ministry of National Defence of Poland

Colonel Michał Żołnierowicz is the head of the International Cooperation Branch of the Department of Innovation of the Ministry of National Defense in Warsaw. Prior to taking up this position, he was the Chief Specialist responsible for science, technology and armaments in the Policy and Capabilities Division of the International Military Staff at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

His areas of specialization include international research and development cooperation in the field of defense in NATO, the EU and bilateral contacts, the NATO Defense Planning Process, the European Defense Fund, innovation in research and development projects in the field of defense including emerging and disruptive technologies, capital funds and start-ups.

Roman Vybranovskyy
Advisor to the Chairman, State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine

Roman Vybranovskyy is a Ukrainian communication expert with experience in policy communications, crisis communications, international media relations, and advocacy.

He has worked in a variety of roles, including head producer and co-creator of the first talk radio in Ukraine, advisor to the Minister of Energy and head of Foreign media Unit at Ukraine’s NSDC in the beginning of the war against Ukraine in 2014

He is currently an advisor to Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection.

Andrzej Cieślak
CEO, Dynacon

Marta Gomez Macias
Cyber Engineer, VirusTotal

Marta Gomez Macias is a Software Engineer at VirusTotal where she is developing their URL and netloc scanner. Marta has contributed to many open source projects, such as cpython, Wire messaging app or the Wazuh SIEM. In her free time, she likes doing code challenges such as AdventOfCode or CodeWars.

Dr. Jamie Collier
Senior Threat Intelligence Advisor, Mandiant

Dr Jamie Collier is a Senior Threat Intelligence Advisor at Mandiant (now part of Google Cloud). He works with organisations in the EMEA region to help them understand their threat landscape and build threat intelligence capabilities. He is also active within academia as an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Before joining Mandiant, he was the Cyber Threat Intelligence Team Lead at Digital Shadows and completed a PhD in Cyber Security at the University of Oxford. Jamie was previously based at MIT as a Cyber Security Fulbright Scholar and has experience working with the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Oxford Analytica, and PwC India.

Dr. Olesya Tkacheva
Professor at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy, and Strategy (CSDS), Brussels School of Governance

Dr. Olesya Tkacheva has ten years of trans-Atlantic professional experience on Eurasia and Europe with a particular focus on cyber and information warfare, democratic resilience, and Russian military strategy. Since 2017 she has been a faculty at the Brussels School of Governance in Belgium and published on cyber escalation, Russian foreign policy and disinformation by leveraging experimental, big data, and computational text methodologies. Her current research focuses on civil-military relations and military mobilization in Russia.

Prior to moving to Brussels, she was a political scientist at the RAND Corporation where she published and advised senior policymakers on security challenges emanating from new technologies and she also contributed to the drafting of NATO’s Framework for the Future of Alliance Operations 2030. She was also a country director at the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense, where she directly contributed to the development and implementation of the U.S. policy to counter Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and received a team achievement award from the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

Dr. Tkacheva started her professional career as a post-doctoral fellow at the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies, University of Rochester. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and is a winner of a Fulbright Fellowship to Russia and a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.

Joanna Świątkowska
COO, ECSO

Royal Hansen
Vice President of Privacy, Safety and Security Engineering, Google

Royal Hansen is Vice President of Privacy, Safety and Security Engineering at Google, where he leads the central engineering function that builds and scales the foundational technology that keeps billions of people safe online.

This team’s capabilities include cybersecurity threat detection, analysis and counterabuse, building advanced AI/ML security technologies, and protecting privacy, identity and data. From detecting sophisticated threats to building on our AI expertise, the team pushes the boundaries of security innovation to drive impact across Google, so that users, governments, and society can benefit.

Prior to Google, Royal worked in the financial services industry, with leadership positions at American Express, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Fidelity Investments. In these roles, he focused on protecting the security and integrity of the companies’ technology systems and the information they processed, managed regulatory risk and compliance standards, and enabled technical resilience through his teams’ work on disaster recovery and business continuity.

Royal began his career at cybersecurity startup @stake, acquired by Symantec. He holds a BA in Computer Science from Yale University, and was awarded a Fulbright fellowship in information sciences and Arabic language study, which he completed at the United Arab Emirates University.

16:00-16:30 / KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

TODAY’S EMEA THREAT LANDSCAPE: COMBINING MANDIANT AND VIRUSTOTAL PERSPECTIVES

The complexity of the cyber threat landscape makes it essential to examine today’s threats from multiple angles. Join Mandiant Senior Threat Intelligence Advisor, Dr Jamie Collier and VirusTotal Cyber Engineer, Marta Gomez Macias who will explore the most active threats facing the region, ranging from prominent espionage campaigns to the latest cyber crime developments. By combining Mandiant and VirusTotal perspectives, this webinar will provide actionable advice that empowers security practitioners to build more proactive and resilient security postures.

Brig. Gen. Oleksandr Potii
Deputy Head of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine

Prof. Deeph Chana
Managing Director, NATO DIANA

Professor Deeph Chana is DIANA’s first Managing Director. He brings extensive experience of leading innovative science and technology research and development in academia, industry and government, focusing on global risks and next-generation infrastructure security. He was previously at Imperial College London, where he was Director of the Institute for Security Science and Technology and Co-Director of the Centre for Financial Technology within Imperial College Business School.

Prof Chana has consulted and lectured worldwide on the nature and implications of disruptive and emerging technologies, and has several decades of experience in technology entrepreneurship, covering a wide range of applications spanning quantum cascade laser detectors to materials science. He was also Chair of NATO’s Advisory Group on Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDTs) and is currently a high-level science advisor to the UK’s Ministry of Defence.

18:00-18:15 / KEYNOTE SPEECH

CONVERGENCE OF ELECTRONIC AND CYBER WARFARE IN UKRAINE

Convergence of electronic and cyber warfare has become a game-changer in modern armed conflicts. It can enhance both offensive and defensive capabilities, by disrupting enemy networks, gathering intelligence, and on the other hand boosting cybersecurity protocols and mitigating vulnerabilities that could be used by an enemy force. Russia has been using its cyber-electronic capabilities during the war in Ukraine, making the fight all the more difficult. What are the advantages and challenges of integrating electronic and cyber warfare capabilities? How can this technological fusion enhance military operations and situational awareness? What are the potential implications on civilian infrastructure and populations? Is this the future of modern warfare?

17:30-18:00 / FIRESIDE CHAT

HARNESSING THE POWER OF EDTS

Technological superiority through emerging disruptive technologies (EDTs) such as AI, quantum computing or autonomous systems, not only strengthens defence and deterrence capabilities but also enhances geopolitical influence. As major global players like Russia and China prioritize EDT development to bolster their military capabilities, NATO is also focused on maintaining its technological edge through the NATO Innovation Fund and DIANA. How are EDTs transforming cyber and traditional warfare? What are the challenges in effectively integrating EDTs into existing military infrastructure and systems? What can we expect in the years to come in the EDT “arms race”?

Mirosław Maj
Founder and president of the Cybersecurity Foundation, Vice-president, ComCERT SA

Over 20 years of experience in ICT security. Founder and president of the Cybersecurity Foundation, Vice-president of the ComCERT company, a former leader of CERT Polska team. The member of the Digital In 2017-2018 he was the adviser to the Minister of National Defence of Poland on planning cyberdefence capabilities and building organizational structures and establishing international cooperation in the field of cyberdefence. In March 2021 was appointed a member of the Digitalization Council at the Ministry of Digital Affairs.
Initiator of Polish Civic Cyberdefence organization. Co-founder of Open CSIRT Foundation – the stewardship organisation for SIM3 model and co-provider of Trusted Introducer service for CSIRTs, including processing of CSIRT formal certifications. Lecturer of cybersecurity courses on few universities.
European Network Information Security Agency expert and co-author of many ENISA publications including CERT exercises and papers on improvement CSIRT maturity. He organised 10 editions of cyber exercises (Cyber-EXE™) in several countries for most essential sectors (e.g energy, banking, telecommunication). Speaker on many international conferences including the FIRST conferences. He is also the originator and organiser Security Case Study conference, one of the largest cybersecurity event in Poland.

Lieutenant General T R Copinger-Symes CBE
Deputy Commander UK Strategic Command

Tom spent his early career with The Rifles on operations in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, and in operational and strategy posts at the Permanent Joint Headquarters and the Ministry of Defence.
For the past 10 years he has focused on how the Army and Defence can make better use of its data and information, whether in supporting traditional warfighting or employed as a weapon in its own right – especially in the context of ‘sub-threshold’ competition. This has included command at brigade (1 ISR Bde) and divisional levels (Force Troops Command – now 6th (UK) Div), as well as, in his last post as Director of Military Digitisation, leading Defence’s Digital Transformation portfolio.
In May 2022 Tom was promoted to Lieutenant General, on appointment as the Deputy Commander of UK Strategic Command.

18:15-19:15 / PANEL DISCUSSION

FOSTERING CIVIL-DEFENCE SYNERGIES

Protecting cyberspace requires intensified cooperation and coordination between the civilian and defence spheres. That is fundamental for achieving success on the battlefield (as the war in Ukraine has shown), as well as for fostering innovation and technological progress contributing to greater national security. The panel strives to understand how effective cooperation between the defence domain and the private sector (industry, academia, and decision-makers) can be built. It will focus on the identification of priorities, potential gaps, quick wins, and long-term goals. Apart from that participants will be asked to recommend concrete ways how to improve synergy between the two communities.

16:30 –17:15 / PANEL DISCUSSION

DISARMING INFLUENCE OPERATIONS

Information has always been a key element of war – now, social media are significantly transforming the dynamics of conflicts. Psychological warfare, disinformation and propaganda, are increasingly used by malicious actors such as Russia to support their bigger geopolitical goals. Beyond the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin is also engaging in aggressive influence operations in Africa and Latin America, not only to shape public opinion of the conflict, but also manipulate local communities, put anti-Western governments in power, undermine democracy and human rights. How can we converge the efforts of the multiple actors involved in the fight against disinformation? What protocols and practices should we establish for preventing and managing influence operations?

16:00-16:15 / KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

HACKING GOOGLE – A LOOK BEHIND GOOGLE’S RED TEAM OR RED TEAMING – THE BEST DEFENCE IS A GOOD OFFENSE

What does it look like when a sophisticated adversary tries to attack your company? Would you be able to notice? Building an internal Red Team that is able to simulate a wide variety of adversaries can help answer this and many other questions. This talk will go into details on how to build an effective Red Team program, from hiring talent over building out capabilities, all the way to remediating findings surfaced in exercises and . The talk will also focus on how red teams play a decisive role in preparing every organization for attacks on AI systems.

14:30-15:30 / PANEL DISCUSSION

THROUGH PEACETIME, CRISIS, AND CONFLICT – STRENGTHENING NATO’S CYBER POSTURE

Malicious actors seek to destabilize the Alliance through cyber means – Russia continues to intensify its hybrid attacks against the Allies and partners, and the PRC has declared its ambitions to challenge NATO’s interests, security, and technological edge. NATO is committed to enhancing its deterrence and defence posture in the cyber domain through initiatives like Virtual Cyber Incident Support Capability, the Innovation Fund, and DIANA. How have recent summits improved NATO’s cyber posture? How do the above-mentioned initiatives improve NATO’s capabilities in the cyber sphere? How can NATO members prepare themselves for the changes brought by modern warfare?

Maj. Gen. Karol Molenda
Commander, POL Cyber Command

Major General Karol Molenda is an expert in building and implementing innovative solutions in cyber security, computer incident response, computer forensics and ICT security (date of appointment to the rank of Major General – August 14, 2023). As the Cyber Commander he strongly supports modern scientific and research projects as well as active cyber cooperation
at the international level.
MG Karol Molenda occupied numerous positions in the Military Counterintelligence Service including the Head of IT Security Branch, the Head of Computer Forensic Branch, the Head of Cyber Counterintelligence Branch, the Deputy Director of Cyber Security Bureau, and the Deputy Director of VI Directorate. In 2019 he was assigned as the Director of the National Cyber Security Centre. From 2019 he has served also as the Plenipotentiary of the Minister of National Defence for the creation of Cyber Defence Forces. In January 2022 the National Cyber Security Centre was transformed into the National Cyber Security Centre – Cyber Command (NCSC-CC) with (then) Brig. Gen. Karol Molenda as the NCSC Director – Cyber Commander. On May 12th, 2022 NCSC-CC was finally transformed into Cyber Command. POL Cyber Command – named after Jerzy Witold Różycki – cultivates the heritage of the Cipher Bureau, where great Polish mathematicians and cryptologists worked on breaking the German cipher machine – ENIGMA. The Centre operates 24/7/365 in order to constantly monitor and respond to threats in cyberspace, educate Polish society through informational campaigns presenting the best practices in conducting online activities, as well as to build and develop cryptological tools.
MG Karol Molenda was awarded, inter alia, with the Army Commendation Medal by the United States Department of Defense in 2019 for his commitment and unconventional approach to cyber counterintelligence activities. In 2021, during the second edition of the CYBERSEC CEE REGIONS&CITIES conference he received the European CYBERSEC Award.
MG Karol Molenda is a graduate of the Military University of Technology (master’s degree in Cybernetics and MBA in Cyber Security) and Warsaw Management University. Privately – a passionate horse rider and an avid runner.

PhD Paweł Terpilowski
Editor-in-chief and Vice president, Demagog

He holds a PhD in Political Science, specializing in foreign and security policy in Central-Eastern Europe, politics of Ukraine, Polish-Ukrainian relations, nationalism and radical movements as well as disinformation.

Expert on Eastern Europe in Ambitna Polska Foundation. Member of the European Code of Practice on Disinformation Permanent Task-Force and the Governance Body of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network.

In 2022, he was a member of the European Digital Media Observatory Task Force on Disinformation on the War in Ukraine.

Dr. Magnus Hjort
Acting Director General of the Swedish Psychological Defence Agency

The Swedish Psychological Defence Agency is a government entity devoted to countering malign foreign influence in the cognitive domain and further strengthening societal resilience against such threats, promoting the core values of democracy and sovereign decision making. The Agency started its activities on January 1, 2022.

Dr Hjort was in April 2021 appointed by the Swedish Government to lead the establishing of the Swedish Psychological Defence Agency and has from January 1 2022 been Deputy Director General and head of the agency’s Capability Building Department. Since October 2022 he is also serving as Acting Director General.

Dr Hjort was previously Head Secretary in the Inquiry Commission that presented the proposal for a new government agency for Psychological Defence in May 2020. His previous positions include Senior Analyst at the Swedish Defence University, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Swedish Council for Higher Education, Deputy Director General at the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, Head of Strategic Analysis Unit at the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and Head of Research and Strategic Analysis at the Swedish Emergency Management Agency.

He has a Ph.D. from Stockholm University in History with a research focus on the Cold War and Security and Military History. Among his published works is the doctoral thesis from 2004 “Nationens livsfråga”. Propaganda och upplysning i försvarets tjänst 1944–1963. (The Essential Issue of the Nation. Propaganda and Information in the Service of Swedish Defence 1944-1963).

Marietta Gieroń
Chairman, the Kościuszko Institute Association

Belén Carrasco Rodríguez
Project Director, Centre for Information Resilience

Belén Carrasco Rodríguez is the Director of the Eyes on Russia project at the Centre for Information Resilience. Eyes on Russia was established to investigate, document, and expose Russia’s abuses, war crimes, and information operations in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine through open-source investigations.

Prior to joining CIR, Belén worked at the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence investigating covert influence techniques by state actors, specifically Russia and their proxies. She developed NATO StratCom COE’s doctrine on Information Laundering and was also an Associate Director at open-source intelligence consultancy Neon Century.

Givi Gigitashvili
Research Associate, Atlantic Council

Givi Gigitashvili is an open-source analyst and Research Associate at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, where he investigates influence operations, social media manipulation and computational propaganda campaigns in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus.

Izabela Albrycht
Director of the Cybersecurity Center at AGH University of Science and Technology & Co-founder of CYBERSEC

Maj. Gen. (Rt) Jean-Marc Wasielewski
Retired Major General, Signal Corps of the French Army

Major General (retired) Jean-Marc WASIELEWSKI is an Army Signal officer who held different positions in France and abroad. Among others, he was the commanding officer of an EW regiment and the commanding general of the FR Signal brigade. While J6 of the FR Rapid Reaction Corps he deployed to Afghanistan where he was in charge of the FR joint C2 systems. He is a graduate from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy, the War College (Paris) and the NATO Defense College (Rome).

Vice Adm. Dr. Thomas Daum
German Cyber Command

Military career:

1 Jul 1981 Joined the Navy

1981 – 1982 Basic Training Phase for Naval Officers, Naval Academy, Schools and Training Ships

1982 – 1985 Student, Department for Computer Science, Armed Forces University, Munich

1986 – 1987 Advanced Training Phase for Naval Officer, Naval Academy and Schools

1987 – 1990 Watch Officer on Fast Patrol Boats, 3rd Fast Patrol Boat Squadron, Flensburg

1990 – 1992 Commanding Officer Fast Patrol Boat “S 41 TIGER”, 3rd Fast Patrol Boat Squadron, Flensburg

1992 – 1995 Scientist Staff Officer, Department for Computer Science, Armed Forces University, Munich

1995 – 1996 Deputy Squadron Commander, 3rd Fast Patrol Boat Squadron, Flensburg

1996 – 1998 Student, Admiral/General Staff Course, Armed Forces Staff College, Hamburg

1998 – 1999 Section Head “Plans & Policy for Information Systems”, M 6 Division, Fleet Command, Gluecksburg (1999 Chairman NATO MCCIS Multinational User Group)

2000 – 2001 Staff Officer, “Maritime Communication and Information Systems”, C4ISR Branch, Navy Staff, MOD Germany, Bonn

2002 – 2003 Branch Head “Joint Exercise Planning, National/NATO/EU”, J 7 Division, Bundeswehr Operations Command, Potsdam

2003 – 2004 Squadron Commander, 2nd Fast Patrol Boat Squadron, Rostock (2003 Commander German Task Group 500.02, NATO Operation ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR – TF STROG, Cadiz/Spain)

2004 – 2006 Head of Branch “Plans & Policy, Information Management, Capabilities and Requirements Analysis”, IT-Office of the Bundeswehr, Koblenz

2006 – 2009 Head of CIS Branch, DEU MilRep to NATO, EU and WEU, Brussels/Belgium

2009 – 2010 Assistant Chief of Staff, CIS Division, German Fleet Command, Gluecksburg (2009 – 2011 Chairman NATO Maritime C3 Ad-hoc Working Group)

2010 – 2012 Branch Head, C4ISR Branch, MOD Navy Staff, Bonn (2012 Chairman NATO C3 Concepts & Requirements (Maritime) Capability Team)

2012 Branch Head, Human Ressources, Organisation & Procedures, CIS in Operations (SE III 3), MOD Strategy and Operations Staff, Berlin (2012 Chairman Multinational Interoperability Working Group “Operations Support”)

2012 – 2015 Head of Information Technology Division, Federal Office of the Bundeswehr for Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support, Koblenz/Lahnstein

2015 – 2019 Deputy General Manager, Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer, NATO Communication and Information Agency, Brussels/Belgium

2019 – 2020 Chief of Staff, Cyber and Information Domain Service Headquarters, Bonn

since 25 Sep 2020 Chief of the Cyber and Information Domain Service, Bonn

Maj. Gen. Rafael García Hernández
Commander, Joint Cyberspace Command, Spain

He joined the AGA in 1983. Assigned to various positions at AF and Spanish Defence Joint Staff. Abroad in SHAPE – NATO; Defence Attaché in London, Afghanistan or participating in the Operation Unified Protector of Libya. On July 30, he was appointed Commander of the MCCD, and on August 4, 2020 of the MCCE.

Maj. Gen. Karol Dymanowski
Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces

MGen Dymanowski is a graduate of the Faculty of Electronics at the Military University of Technology in Warsaw and the National Defence Academy in Warsaw, where he completed postgraduate studies (in operations and tactics as well as in defence policy) and received a PhD in defence science.

He began his military service in the 1st Signals Intelligence Centre in Grójec, where in the years of 2001-2007 he served as a reconnaissance officer, head of the direction finding section and head of the data analysis group section.

From 2007 to 2012 MGen Dymanowski served in the Air Force Command Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare Division-A2. During this time, from 2010 to 2012, he was also a chairman of the NATO Electromagnetic Spectrum Denial Working Group, operating under the auspices of the NATO Conference of National Armament Directors.

In 2012, he was appointed to the position of the Chief of the Office of the Air Force Commander, and from January 2014 Chief of the Office of the General Command Commander.

In 2015, he assumed the duties of Non-Kinetic Operations Division – J9 of the General Command, where he was responsible for civil-military cooperation (CIMIC), information operations (INFOOPS) and psychological operations (PSYOPS).

In March 2016, he was appointed Deputy Director and then (December 2016) Director of the Armaments Policy Department of the Ministry of Defence, while also serving as National Armaments Director. On 15 August 2018, he was appointed to the rank of Brigadier General.

In June 2021, he was nominated to the next rank, Major General, and was assigned to serve in the NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe as Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Development and Preparation.

On 24 October 2022, he assumed the position of Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces.

17:30-17:45 / KEYNOTE SPEECH

FOSTERING INNOVATION AND INTEROPERABILITY IN NATO

With increased investments into developing cutting-edge solutions, including disruptive and dual use tech, NATO is clearly entering its new technological era. To maintain its technological edge, the Allies need interoperability. Seamless integration of new solutions across member states and partners has long been a priority for NATO, but it is getting more difficult with the growing complexity of systems, as well as the emergence and convergence of domains. It also requires a whole-of-ecosystem approach – engaging not only NATO, but the defence industry, tech companies, academia and civil society. What conditions have to be met for an effective innovation and smooth digital transformation of NATO? How to structure the cooperation within such a diverse group of stakeholders?

Marietta Gieroń
Holder of commercial power of attorney | Operations Director

While studying at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University, she simultaneously completed the Academy of Capital Companies. She also completed the Data Protection Inspector Course, as she is convinced that the implementation of RODO minimizes the risk of data leakage incidents, which in the time of accelerated technological progress is a sensitive resource more than ever.

Łukasz Gawron
Chairman of the Board #CyberMadeInPoland

Graduate of international relations at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, where he also completed his BA studies. He coordinated the European Energy Hub project at the Institute of Public Policy. For many years associated with The Kościuszko Institute, where he was responsible for the organization of several CYBERSEC events. From January 2021 Vice-chairman and from December 2021, Chairman of the Board, of the first Polish Cybersecurity Cluster #CyberMadeinPoland in Poland. He has a PRINCE2 Foundation and Agile PM Foundation project management certificate.

Jarosław Kożuch
Chairman of The Kościuszko Institute

Graduate of the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations at the Jagiellonian University. Coordinator of many international projects in cooperation with expert organizations in Ukraine, observer in Ukrainian presidential elections in 2004 during the Orange Revolution.

Associated with Kościuszko Institute for almost 20 years. Manager with many years of experience, business practitioner. He is interested in using new technologies in business.

Maciej Góra
CYBERSEC Project Manager

Maciej Góra is a Project Coordinator of the Kosciuszko Institute. He studied National Security at the Jagiellonian University, Cybersecurity at the AGH University of Science and Technology (both in Krakow) and International Relations at the Charles University, Prague. His research and professional interests include digital and cyber issues on a micro (reducing digital footprint, personal online safety) and macro scale (geopolitical dimension of cybersecurity, cybersecurity management, social processes related to digitalization, futurology).

Ewelina Kasprzyk
Programme Director | Chief Editor of the European Cybersecurity Journal

She holds MA in American Studies and MSc in International Relations (speciality: Strategic Studies), earned at the Faculty of International and Political Studies, Jagiellonian University. Her research interests were developed through both of her theses regarding respectively the impact of social media in shaping the political environment and Internet governance in the age of cyber warfare. After hours, she enjoys learning new languages and drawing.