ECSO’s Annual CISO Meetup

ECSO’s Annual CISO Meetup, co-hosted by our valuable Member, the Tuscany Region, is scheduled to take place on the 28th – 29th November at Palazzo dei Congressi / Villa Vittoria, in beautiful Florence, Italy.

The inaugural Meetup brought together nearly 100 Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) from 20 European countries, marking the beginning of the Community’s establishment.

The upcoming Meetup is dedicated to discussions on key cybersecurity topics, as well as the future goals and initiatives of the European CISO community, supported by ECSO — an independent, non-profit public-private association committed to cybersecurity, counting 300 direct members and indirectly connecting over 3000 companies.

Among our major initiatives, ECSO’s CISO Community, plays a vital role in providing visibility and fostering networking opportunities for CISOs across various European countries and sectors. With partnerships established with national CISO Communities/Associations, our Community has rapidly grown, now encompassing over 350 Members from 28 European countries.

Distinct from other CISO events, the ECSO CISOs Meetup remains fully independent, non-profit, and driven by the chairs of our network of European CISOs, united by shared interests and commitment to advancing cybersecurity.

Representatives from national groups will be present, fostering discussions on collaboration opportunities with the ultimate goal of unifying all CISO organisations under the ECSO umbrella. As a result we anticipate a wide participation of CISOs at this exceptional event, offering exquisite networking opportunities, insightful presentations featuring real-world case studies, panel discussions on critical cybersecurity topics, engaging dialogues with public administration, and sector-specific roundtable discussions.

How to participate

Access to the event is limited to CISOs and to CISO Team Members (Deputy CISO, CISO office etc.). Due to limited availability, we invite you to indicate your interest to ECSO’s Manager for the CISO Community and related Policies, Sebastijan Cutura, at sebastijan.cutura@ecs-org.eu.

ECSO is delighted to grant complimentary attendance to the first 150 registrants. Subsequent registrations will incur a supplementary registration fee of 150 EUR per person.

Travel costs and accommodation must be covered by participants. ECSO will cover organisation costs as well as food and beverages for both days, including a networking dinner on the first day.

Rigorous measures will be implemented to ensure the utmost privacy and confidentiality, and all discussions will adhere to the principles of the Chatham House Rules, safeguarding the identities and statements of participants.

Purpose of the event

ECSO recognises the need for CISOs to exchange sensitive information in a trusted and safe environment and to be part of the only pan-European CISO Community. ECSO’s Annual CISO Meetup is therefore a unique occasion to meet each other in person to develop trust and convey a stronger voice of users/operators towards other stakeholders in cybersecurity.

What to expect:

Participation of 200 CISOs from 27 European countries.
Workstreams on vital cybersecurity topics with European perspective.
Presentation of real-world case studies.
Sector specific roundtables.
Panel debates.
Networking opportunities.
Speaking opportunities.
Dialogue with limited number of vendors.
Sensitive discussions limited only to CISOs.

Call for contributions and speaking opportunities

Upon registration, you will also have the chance to develop part of the agenda together with ECSO and propose the topic(s) which you deem more pressing for the discussions.

Agenda

The agenda is developed together with the CISOs and will follow the successful format tested during last year’s edition by having two streams:

General stream: Deep dive into areas of common interest to all CISOs.
Sector and area specific stream: Energy, Finance, Manufacturing (more sectors to be introduced depending on the number of applications from a sector) or specialised topics and workshops.

General Stream (main room)

List of initial topics (TBD):

Building the EU CISO Community: what are the next steps and possibilities for cooperation with the national CISO Communities?
Integration of Physical and Cyber Security Issues
Supply chain risk management.
Cybersecurity skills: how to become a CISO?
How to obtain board interest and investment.
Cyber resilience
The EU Cybersecurity Policy: Implementation of NIS2, CRA, Cyber Solidarity Act etc.
Threat-driven cybersecurity: how to build a CTI Community at EU level?
Cross – country Incident Management: Network of SOCs, CSIRT Network.
Adoption of AI infused technologies: challenges and perspectives.
Dialogue with public administration (EU and Italy).

We invite you to see a more detailed version of the agenda HERE.

Sector and area specific stream (side room)

As last year, sectorial roundtables (energy, finance, etc.) will be held in the side room where privacy and confidentiality will be maximally guaranteed to develop trust among CISOs. The choice of vertical topics depends on the turnout and interest of participants and will be tailored with the support of CISOs in charge of sector specific discussions.

Sample sector specific topics (TBD):

Energy – building Energy CISO Community.
Finance – Implementation of DORA.
Manufacturing – IT/OT Integration.

Case studies (main and side room, depending on the applicability)

Case studies will be presented in general and sectoral stream depending on the applicability of the case. Sector specific case studies will be presented in smaller groups while case studies that are of interest for wide audience will be presented in general stream.

Sample List of Case Study Presentations (TBD):

Lessons learned from MOVEit attacks.
AlphaV (BlackCat) activity.
LockBit 3.0 data breach

Confirmed speakers

The event will feature the following top professionals as speakers, shedding light on some of the most pertinent topics for CISOs in cybersecurity today:

Mahdi ABDULRAZAK, Group Information Security & Risk Officer at SHV Energy
Mansur ABILKASIMOV, Vice President in charge of Cybersecurity and Product Security Strategy at Schneider Electric
Patrick ANDERSSON, CISO at Nixu
Dr. Andrzej BARTOSIEWICZ, CEO at CISO #Poland and CISO at KOMBUD
Paul BAYLE, Head of Security and Group CSO/Group Security at Atos
Christine BEJERASCO, CISO at WithSecure
Olivier CALEFF, CISO, Cyber-Resilience & Crisis Director at Erium
Flavio CARVALHO, CISO at Sofinco
Szymon FRYSZTACKI, Group Cybersecurity Manager at FTF Services, CISO at Synthos and Founding Member of CISO #Poland
Selene GIUPPONI, Professor at Parma University, Council Member of the Women4Cyber Foundation, and Secretary General of Women4Cyber Italy.
Luis GONÇALVES, Global CISO and CQO, Chief Compliance Officer at Informa D&B
Olga FORNE GONZALEZ, Global CISO at Abertis
Jimmy HESCHL, Global Head of Digital Security at Red Bull
Petri KUIVALA, CISO at Hoxhunt
Stephane LENCO, Group CISO at Thales
Alberto MALDINO, Cybersecurity Director at Barilla Group
Peter MASSINI, Head of Detection and Response at Siemens Energy
Alessandro MENNA, Chief Security Officer at Italgas
Simone PEZZOLI, CTO at Haier Europe
Paolo DI SERIO, Head of Product Cyber Resilience at Leonardo
Fabio UGOSTE, Head of Cybersecurity and Business Continuity Management Department at Intesa Sanpaolo
Marc VAEL, CISO Packaging & Colour Management at Danaher Corporation
Jelena ZELENOVIC MATONE, CISO at European Investment Bank

Sponsorship opportunities

The ECSO’s Annual CISO Meetup offers an exceptional platform for European companies seeking sponsorship opportunities. This event provides chance for sponsors to connect with industry leaders, allowing them to showcase their companies and solutions directly to potential buyers. By becoming a sponsor at this prestigious event, your company can also establish a significant presence in the European cybersecurity market.

We welcome both ECSO members and non-members to explore these sponsorship options. However, our sponsorship packages are limited and we strongly advise you to seize this unique opportunity sooner rather than later.

Non-ECSO Members: If you’re not yet an ECSO member but are interested in sponsorship, you can find all the relevant information in our sponsorship package HERE.

ECSO Members: For ECSO members, we are pleased to offer advantageous pricing, and we kindly request that you contact Sebastijan Cutura at sebastijan.cutura(at)ecs-org.eu for further details.

Additional information

For more information and/or inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact Sebastijan Cutura, ECSO’s Manager for the CISO Community and related Policies, at sebastijan.cutura(at)ecs-org.eu.

We look forward welcoming you in Florence!