The 14th of March was a spotlight day for PUZZLE, as it was presented by the consortium partners from the European DIGITAL SME Alliance, in two different events: in a round-table discussion on Information Security for SMEs, and in the Italian business delegation meeting in Brussels.

Open Desk: Information Security in SMEs

The session titled “Open Desk: Information Security in SMEs” was hosted by Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was a joint event of two EU-funded projects ‘SOCIAL’ and ‘ISALIP’, which both deal with cybersecurity awareness, literacy and privacy among citizens and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The session was organised in a form of a round table discussion, which also included presentations from some of the participants.

The event was attended by different groups of stakeholder representatives, including academia (the hosting university), cybersecurity researchers (such as The Business Research Center for SME Economy (BF/M)), cybersecurity and privacy law specialists (TrustGuru/ LINDEN Law Firm), industry representatives and SME support organisations specialising in cybersecurity services (such as EDIH.LT; Bavarian IT Security Cluster, European DIGITAL SME Alliance, etc.).

After the initial presentations about the hosting projects, discussion on cybersecurity situation in different EU countries kicked-off with a focus on public authorities, critical infrastructures, but also SMEs and their awareness of cybersecurity. It then continued with a more focused debate on the upcoming Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), its interplay with NIS2 Directive, Radio Equipment Directive and GDPR, as well as CRA’s impact on businesses, their level of cybersecurity and their capacity to ensure the required levels of security.

To conclude the discussion, the participating stakeholders shared their recommendations on how the CRA could be improved, their insights on how SME compliance with the CRA and other cybersecurity-related legislations can be supported, and discussed various tools and initiatives that are currently in place to strengthen cybersecurity of the SMEs. Against this background, the PUZZLE solution was also presented, progress and feedback from the SMEs participating in the Open Calls were also briefly discussed.

Italian business delegation meeting in Brussels

At the same time, on the other side of Europe, the biggest Italian business association – Confindustria – hosted a members’ delegation in Brussels. The European DIGITAL SME Alliance was invited to present digitalisation opportunities to the participating companies. Among different existing tools, initiatives and services, which can help SMEs to digitise, PUZZLE was presented as a key tool to ensure companies’ cybersecurity.

Author: European DIGITAL SME Alliance