The cybersecurity landscape is evolving at a pace that demands more than incremental adaptation. Europe faces growing threats to its critical infrastructure, persistent skills shortages, and a difficulty for industry players to keep up with the latest European certification frameworks. Meeting these challenges requires coordinated research, shared knowledge, and an innovation ecosystem capable of translating scientific findings into deployable solutions.
CYNERGY 2026 is 28DIGITAL's flagship cybersecurity event, designed to do precisely that. Held on 16 June 2026 in Bucharest as a side event of the Bucharest Tech Week, CYNERGY brings together leading researchers, policymakers, industry actors, and innovation stakeholders in a single, high-quality forum dedicated to advancing Europe’s resilience in the cybersecurity domain.
This event is co-organised by 28DIGITAL and the COcyber project, funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No. 101158606 and supported by the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre.
Programme Highlights
CYNERGY 2026 features a full day of panel discussions, keynote presentations, and interactive sessions. Below is an overview of the programme:
09:30 — Event Opening
Federico Menna, CEO, 28DIGITAL
09:40 — Keynote: The ECCC Support in Building Europe’s Digital Resilience
Luca Tagliaretti, Executive Director, European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC)
09:55 — 28DIGITAL Introduction
- Salvatore Moccia, Education and Skills Director, 28DIGITAL
- Jari Mieskonen, Access to Finance Specialist, 28DIGITAL
10:15 — Converging on Innovation for a Safe European Digital Space
- Cristina Baghiu, Hub Coordinator, Digital Innovation Zone EDIH
- Other speakers to be announced soon.
- Moderator: Krisztián Gál, Ecosystem Lead, 28DIGITAL
11:30 — Cyberproofing Your Company: Tools & Tips
- An SME’s guide to cybersecurity compliance — the who, what, how and when of the CSA and CRA
Argyro Chatzopoulou, Senior Advisor, APIROPLUS Solutions - Beyond compliance: Cybersecurity as a competitive advantage for European SMEs
Ovidiu Mihaila, Innovation Funding Manager, Bitdefender
14:00 — Designing for Both Worlds: How Europe Can Lead on Dual-Use Innovation
- Bruno Crispo, Professor of Computer Science, University of Trento
- Virgilijus Dirma, Deputy Director, Infobalt
- Isabella Neumann, Ph.D Candidate in International Politics and Consultant, 28DIGITAL
- Moderator: Dorina Stanculescu, Project Dissemination Lead, 28DIGITAL
14:50 — Digital Changemakers: European Success Stories Securing the World
- EIT Digital Master School: Shaping Europe’s Next Digital Innovators — Siddhesh Krishnan, Education Lead, 28DIGITAL
- Privacy is Dead — Christian Siman-Chereches, Founder of ChoiceFirst and EIT Digital Alumnus
- AI-enhanced cybersecurity tools for digital resilience: success stories from the CyberSecDome Project — Armend Duzha, EU Program Manager, Maggioli Spa
15:50 — Unlocking EU Funding
Alessandra Barbieri, EU R&I Outreach and Dissemination Lead, 28DIGITAL
16:30 — Cybersecurity Skills for Europe: Aligning Policy, Industry and Education
- Antonela Bardhoku, Research and Innovation Officer, DIGITALEUROPE
- Milda Savickaitė, Head of Innovation Development, Infobalt
- Adrian Sterca, Head of Cybersecurity Department, Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca
- Bruno Crispo, Professor of Computer Science, University of Trento
- Moderator: Siddhesh Krishnan, Education Lead, 28DIGITAL
17:10 — Wrap-Up and Closing Session
Tuan Trinh, Regional Director, 28DIGITAL
Projects in Focus
The programme draws on the expertise of 28DIGITAL’s portfolio of cybersecurity projects:
- COcyber — bridging civilian and defence cybersecurity communities across Europe
- CURIUM — supporting compliance with the Cyber Resilience Act through cybersecurity-focused tools and services designed to facilitate security testing, regulatory compliance, and risk mitigation
- CUSTODES — developing agile conformity assessment and certification for ICT products, services and processes
- CONSOLE — embedding security throughout the software development lifecycle for European industry
- CyberSecDome — an advanced VR-powered platform for threat detection and incident response to secure digital infrastructures
- CyberHubs — establishing a pan-European network of cybersecurity skills hubs to address the shortage of cybersecurity professionals in Europe
- CYCERONE — delivering free, specialised cybersecurity training to SMEs and public administrations
- SPECTRO — providing an advanced double-degree master's programmes in cybersecurity and robotics
Who Should Attend
CYNERGY 2026 is designed for innovation stakeholders active in the cybersecurity field, including representatives from national and European institutions, academic and research organisations, corporate partners, SMEs, and startups.
Event Details
- Date: 16 June 2026
- Location: Nord Events Center by Globalworth, Opus Room, floor 1, Bulevardul Dimitrie Pompeiu 4-6, Bucharest, Romania
- Admission: Free of charge
Admission to CYNERGY 2026 is free of charge.
For questions and special requests, please contact giulia.mangini@28digital.eu
