COcyber at the ECYBRIDGE International Conference: Anchoring Cyber Resilience

From 9–11 December 2025, the ECYBRIDGE International Conference – Anchoring Cyber Resilience: Cybersecurity Strategies for a Unified Digital Europe gathered a wide community of policymakers, experts, educators, and practitioners across Europe. During three days, participants explored the evolving cyber threat landscape, the need for strategic coherence across Europe, and the role of innovation, partnerships, and education in strengthening resilience.

COcyber participated on Day 2, where Professor Georges Ataya, COcyber Scientific Lead, contributed to Panel 4: Strengthening Europe’s Cybersecurity Workforce: Skills, Education, and Cross-Sector Readiness. Hosted by the Antwerp Maritime Academy, the session was livestreamed to the conference venue in Constanța, connecting audiences from the different locations.

The discussion was moderated by Yves Van Seters, who guided contributions from Noëmie HONORE (She/Her), David De Roock, Joost Daem, and Professor Georges Ataya, bringing together perspectives on the skills and readiness needed for a safer digital Europe.

During the session, Professor Georges Ataya, COcyber Scientific Lead, intervened with a focused message on the human dimension of cybersecurity. He highlighted the importance of education and upskilling for all members of the community, stressing the need for reliance on relevant frameworks to ensure adequate implementation of security protections and necessary involvement of decision makers.

His message echoed a recurring theme throughout the ECYBRIDGE conference: achieving a unified digital Europe requires coherent policies, collaborative capacity building, and a workforce equipped with the right skills at the right time. The discussions during the conference, which ranged from governance gaps to cooperation between civilian and defence communities and to technological innovation repeatedly underlined that the development of strong human capital is central to tackling Europe’s future challenges.

COcyber welcomed the opportunity to participate in the exchange and to engage with the ongoing discussions shaping cybersecurity readiness in Europe.