On January 23, HCSS executive director Paul Sinning signed an MoU with Dr. Sriram Birudavolu, CEO of the Cybersecurity CoE Telangana, a joint initiative of the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and the Government of Telangana, to accelerate the state’s cybersecurity momentum.
The MoU will facilitate FDI, promote knowledge sharing, talent mobilization and collaboration on innovation, legal frameworks and emerging technologies among the cybersecurity ecosystems.
HCSS together with DSCI organized the Indo-Dutch Cybersecurity School 2022 (IDCSS), an annual event organized by Dutch and Indian organizations for students based in the Netherlands or India and young professionals interested in cyber security issues. Last year’s edition included nearly 3000 participants, and hosted 21 lectures from the world’s leading experts in cybersecurity, such as the former US Cyber Diplomat Christopher Painter, CSIS Fellow Dr. Alexander Klimburg, GDPR and Cyber Law expert Benedetta Podesta and Dr Akash Thakar, forensics expert.
The Netherlands is emerging as a hub for India in Europe. There are over 200 Indian companies present in the Netherlands, including all the major IT companies such as TCS, HCL, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra as well as Sun Pharmaceuticals and Tata Steel. Also, there are over 200 Dutch companies present in India, including major Dutch companies like Unilever, Philips, Akzo Nobel, DSM, KLM and Rabobank. These companies all need OT- and IT-security that is comprehensive and inclusive, multistakeholder, multidisciplinary and internationally scoped.
Collaboration is in the Dutch DNA and we work together with India extensively on cybersecurity, says Michel Rademaker, HCSS deputy director and one of the key persons behind the IDCSS. India has a huge talent pool of IT professionals and students and Netherlands has the expertise of implementing PPP models of collaborations throughout the world.