Joris den Bruinen, deputy director, HSD: "We need each other. "
The Hague Security Delta (HSD) has joined EIT Digital's pan-European partner network. Both organisations recently signed a partnership agreement. "We need each other," says Joris den Bruinen, deputy director, HSD.
The Dutch security cluster HSD is a network of businesses, government authorities and knowledge institutes that work together on innovative security solutions and knowledge development. Within this network, security issues are discussed and knowledge is shared on cyber security, national and urban security, protection of critical infrastructures and forensics.
According to Den Bruinen, a connection between a national network such as HSD and EIT Digital's ecosystem is essential for mastering cybersecurity. "We want to share knowledge and address the right questions. Cybersecurity crosses all ICT issues. We need each other for that, both on the knowledge and the innovation sides. We should make the most of the opportunities offered by ICT, and make sure these are safe. You can have cybersecurity in place in one country, but if other countries fall short, everyone is affected. European member states should look beyond the borders of their country."
Some of the 156 partners in the EIT Digital pan-European ecosystem are also members of HSD. A partnership between these two organisations is therefore logical, feels Den Bruinen. "We already work together during Access to Capital events. We match startups who want to grow into scaleups with EIT Digital business developers." Alongside this, Den Bruinen sees opportunities for his network to participate in EIT Digital's innovation activities, for example in contributing to the creation of international consortia to innovate.
<link innovation-entrepreneurship>Innovation activities are one strand of EIT Digital's strategy to make Europe a front player in the digital economy. EIT Digital partners can cooperate with or lead international consortia that create new products, services or startups. According to the EIT Digital <link newsroom news article delivering-transformation-eit-digital-releases-annual-report-2017>annual report, in 2017 90 new products and services were commercially launched in this way and nine new companies were created.
Patrick Essers, node-director EIT Digital in the Netherlands, is happy to have HSD as a new partner. "As Joris states, we already work very well together. It was about time we consolidated that collaboration into a real partnership. Cybersecurity is extremely important for the protection of personal data and for vital infrastructures. HSD's network can enhance EIT Digital's innovation capacity."
