Koen Gijsbers
Major General (ret.)
Digital and cyber strategist, former lead of NATO Communications and Information Agency,
former CIO of The Netherlands Ministry of Defense
Koen Gijsbers is a leading IT and cyber executive, now advising governments and companies at the board and executive level on strategies. He brings 40 years of working experience in the public sector, as a military leader and as a civil senior executive. He led NATO’s cyber innovation from the US (Allied Command Transformation), drove change in the NLD Ministry of Defence as CIO and optimized NATO’s IT and Cyber capability as General Manager of NATO Communications and Information Agency in Brussels. Currently, Koen is engaged in cyber innovation through startups and research programs.
„Is Industry the Battlefield of Nations? – The Need to Build Digital Strategic Autonomy“
Koen Gijsbers will discuss the impact of the global and European security situation on the digital risks German Industry is running for lack of business continuity because of disruption by cyberattack, dependencies in the supply chain, the lack of enough educated IT and OT experts and even because of the development of digital assets. There is a need for increased investments in education and innovation, accelerated by better collaboration between academia, research institutes, startups, and mature industry to become more resilient and less
dependent on developments outside of Europe.