COcyber Batch #3 Ambassadors in the Spotlight: Eric Van Cangh

With its third batch now underway, the COcyber Ambassador Programme continues to expand the network of professionals supporting stronger civilian-defence cybersecurity cooperation in Europe. Since its launch, each of the three cohorts has brought new expertise, perspectives and connections, helping to broaden the project’s outreach and reinforce dialogue within the cybersecurity community.

As Batch 3 approaches the final stage of its six-month ambassadorship, we are introducing the professionals who have helped carry this work forward. In this article, we spoke with Eric Van Cangh, Senior Business Group Leader Digital & Cyber at Agoria, about his background, his perspective on the European cybersecurity landscape, and his reflections on the COcyber Ambassador experience as the journey comes to an end.

Q: Who are you, and what is your professional background?

I am a cybersecurity expert with extensive experience in IT risk management, cyber resilience, and digital transformation. A chemical engineer by training with a background in physical chemistry, I also hold an executive master's degree in IT security, IT management, IT governance, and IT business from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics & Management. I am COBIT 2019, ITIL, and CDPSE certified, and have completed the intensive CISSP and C-CISO bootcamps.

I am the co-author of the very first socio-economic study of cybersecurity in Belgium, and for over five years, I have been leading a business group of 150+ cyber companies at Agoria, called Cyber Made in Belgium (#CMiB), alongside 70+ Belgian cyber partners. (CCB national authority , CyberSecurity coalition , defence, academia, pubic sector…) 

I am deeply involved in the Belgian cyber ecosystem, including as permanent co-chairman of two focus groups of the Belgian Cyber Security Coalition, advisory board member of Cybersec Europe, and volunteer board member of Women4Cyber Belgium. I work as an evangelist on the importance of cyber resilience for our industries and have been twice recognized as a finalist for the Cyber Personality of the Year, in December 2024 and 2025.

Q: Since when and how are you involved in the European cybersecurity sector?

For more than 20 years, I have been working with my heart, dedicated and passionate about cyber and how to increase the cyber resilience of our industries and nation-states. In Belgium, I co-authored the first-ever socio-economic cybersecurity study in 2022, with an update published in October 2025, and I have been orchestrating the 150+ cyber companies within the Cyber Made in Belgium business group. 

I have also been working for more than two years on CyberHub projects and skills initiatives, including visits to Estonia and Ljubljana, and I am deeply sensitive to cyber diversity as a board member and founding contributor of Women4Cyber Belgium. Through all of this, I have been looking to expand my network and knowledge to the European level.

Q: From your perspective, what are the main challenges in the collaboration of the civilian and defence cybersecurity sectors in Europe?

The core challenges are building trusted partnerships between the private sector and defence, speaking the same language, aligning the pace of working, and defining common goals, such as addressing gaps in cyber talent and reservist skills. 

Through the Cyber Made in Belgium ecosystem, I set up and piloted a trusted relationship between CMiB and the Belgian Cyber Command, which we called CMiB4DEF, where, little by little, the Rosetta stone between these two worlds started emerging. That experience taught me how much patience, trust-building, and shared purpose it takes to make civilian-defence collaboration real rather than theoretical.

Q: Again, from your perspective, what are the most crucial steps to address these challenges and strengthen Europe's joint digital safety efforts?

The most crucial steps are increasing networking, embedding existing cyber activities rather than reinventing them, fostering cross-country exchanges, and finding the right European funding mechanisms to sustain these efforts over time. Europe has more assets than it realizes… the challenge is connecting them.

Q: Did your experience as a COcyber Ambassador align with what you expected at the beginning, and what are your key reflections now that the journey is ending?

When Mr. Ataya also well involved in the Belgian cyber eco-system, called to me in 2021 and emphasized that I must have a look on the open job position at Agoria for my current position , I was wondering at the beginning what will be my modest contribution or impact for the society. When I saw the modo of Agoria (“technology for a better world”) , as former well involved in the round table association (service club) and after a formal approval of my beloved wife (“It is tailor made for you”). I jumped in immediately.

Also when you are reaching the 50years old, you are looking for a challenge that making sense and also modestly contributing for a better society.

In my position we succeed to achieve that the Agoria CMiB members are collaborating closely with the Belgian Cyber Defence Force needs. It is exactly what I found relevant to join the Co-cyber initiatives I found the network, the content, the exchanges made perfectly in adequation with the values and experiences expected. Thanks for this opportunity. We will for sure stay in close touch in the short term.