I am representing JAMK University of Applied Sciences in the ECSO Working Group 4 (WG4), which deals with SME issues. I participated the first WG4 meeting on December 2016. The main task for the WG4 is to support SMEs, coordination with countries (in particular East EU) and regions.
Institute of Information Technology and JYVSECTEC from JAMK is one of the founding members of ECSO, The European Cyber Security Organisation. ECSO will support the development of the European cybersecurity industry and EU trusted solutions, including cooperation with Third Countries. ECSO members include a wide variety of stakeholders such as large companies, SMEs, start-ups, and research organizations. ECSO is divided in six working groups (WGs).
During the first WG meeting, we had discussions what Finland must and can do in the near future. We must create a Finnish coordination group to influence and to participate EU decision making process in the early stage. It is essential to have public sector, private sector, and research organizations working together. The first meeting was important both for sharing information and getting acquainted with other members of the group.
Next meetings take place on 17th of March: ENISA will hold an event for its Industry stakeholders on in Brussels on ‘Funding mechanisms for cyber security SMEs’. We will discuss different forms of support to SMEs (other than R&D, e.g. EU regional funds). If you are interested in hearing more details, please do not hesitate to contact me or other participants of JAMK/IT group!
Writer
Jouni Huotari
PhD, Principal lecturer
Institute of Information Technology at JAMK University of Applied Sciences
firstname.lastname@jamk.fi
