Making Community in Cybersecurity: The Cyber 4.0 Forum

Rome, June 5, 2023 – A new point of reference for the cybersecurity innovation and expertise community, an event for institutional, industrial and research players to meet and discuss cybersecurity issues: this is the first edition of Forum Cyber 4.0, the new event organized by the National Center of Highly Specialized Expertise on Cybersecurity, which will be held in the Aula Magna of Sapienza University in Rome on Tuesday, June 6 and Wednesday, June 7.

An intense two-day event, with a six-session program to ignite debate on industry, skills, tools, networks and synergies in the cyber sector. More than 300 attendees are expected, for an audience of representatives from institutions, companies, SMEs and startups, research organizations, professionals, specialists and enthusiasts. It will be Cyber 4.0 President Leonardo Querzoni who will coordinate the opening session (Tuesday, 6, 9 a.m.), to which the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Sen. Adolfo Urso, has been invited, and which will be attended by Prefect Bruno Frattasi, Director General of the National Cybersecurity Agency, Professor Paola Severino, Vice President of Luiss Guido Carli University, and the Magnificent Rector of Sapienza University, Professor Antonella Polimeni.

Also prominent on the agenda are the participation of the Head of Unit for Cybersecurity Policies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Min. Plen. Laura Carpini, and important EU institutions, with the presence – among others – of the European Commission Representation in Italy, the European Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA) and the European Cybersecurity Competence Center, as well as leading representatives of the national private sector and the world of research.

Some highlights of the event:

• A specific focus will be devoted to cybersecurity for SMEs on Tuesday, 6 starting at 3:30 p.m. The session is co-organized with Unindustria and in it will be presented the Vademecum on Cyber Security for Small and Medium Enterprises, an articulation of the 12 good practices defined by the European Cybersecurity Agency contextualized to the national reality
• New Cyber 4.0 research and innovation calls will be launched on the morning of the 7th. With an allocated co-funding of 5.5 Million Euros, they will support developments of high TRL solutions in the core areas of cybersecurity, automotive, healthcare and aerospace. The calls will be public and will encourage the participation of innovative start-ups and SMEs
• Then, in the afternoon of the same day (Wednesday, 7, 3 p.m.), the T4, Technology Transfer, Testing and Training Lab will be unveiled, which will host demos of innovative solutions developed by members and research and innovation projects, both for info/training purposes and for testing before invest for small and medium-sized enterprises.

But there are also many other topics that will be addressed in the two-day event:

• will discuss the state of implementation of the National Cybersecurity Strategy one year after its release, with a special focus on the national cyber industry and development prospects (Tuesday 6, 2 p.m.),
• the adoption of new technological paradigms such as AI, quantum computing, blockchain and the challenges and opportunities they present will be explored,
• will take stock of training and awareness initiatives launched and planned, both in the public and private sectors, and both in the Italian and international arena (Tuesday, 6, 11:30 a.m. and Wednesday, 7, 2 p.m.),
• the current and short-to-medium-term context of cyber security certification activities will be analyzed, including in light of a still-not-final European regulatory framework (Wednesday 7, 2:30 p.m.)
• best practices of information sharing will be discussed, also with a view to assessing their possible replication in other operational contexts such as Small and Medium Enterprises (Wednesday, 7 at 4:15 p.m.)
• an overview of the research and innovation initiatives co-funded by Cyber 4.0 and currently underway will be offered on the core areas of cybersecurity, automotive, aerospace and healthcare (Wednesday, 7, starting at 9:30 a.m.)