CYNERGY 2026 Brings Europe’s Cybersecurity Community Together in Bucharest

CYNERGY 2026 brought Europe’s cybersecurity community to Bucharest for a full day of exchange on digital resilience, skills, compliance, certification, SME support, AI powered tools and dual use innovation. Held on 16 June 2026 as a side event of Bucharest Tech Week, the event was led by 28DIGITAL and co organised by COcyber, connecting eight European cybersecurity initiatives: COcyber, CURIUM, CUSTODES, CONSOLE, CyberSecDome, CyberHubs, CYCERONE and SPECTRO.

A key moment for COcyber was the panel session How Europe Can Lead on Dual Use Innovation, moderated by Dorina Stanculescu, Communication and Dissemination Manager of COcyber. The panel brought together Bruno Crispo, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Trento, Virgilijus Dirma, Deputy Director of Infobalt, and Isabella Neumann, PhD Candidate in International Politics and Consultant at 28DIGITAL, with perspectives from both COcyber and SPECTRO.

The panel examined why technology transfer and information sharing between civilian and defence cybersecurity communities remain difficult. Bruno Crispo addressed regulatory and cultural barriers from the academic perspective. Virgilijus Dirma highlighted practical obstacles to civilian defence cooperation across Europe. Isabella Neumann explored how trust, expertise and civil military relations shape collaboration. The discussion also covered Lithuania as a concrete case study and the opportunities that closer cooperation can create for Europe’s dual use innovation ecosystem. 

The session sparked lively exchanges with the audience, with numerous questions on how to turn shared cyber challenges into more coordinated action. For COcyber, co organising CYNERGY 2026 and contributing to this discussion represented another step towards strengthening civil defence cooperation in cybersecurity in Europe.