In September 2024, Mario Draghi’s landmark report on European competitiveness sounded a clear call to action: to meet its digitalization, environmental and defense ambitions, Europe must become fundamentally more productive. EU leaders responded with an ambitious, far-reaching push to invest in and grow domestic industries, close the innovation gap with the United States and China and inject new dynamism into the European economy.
The cybersecurity and digital sectors are at the heart of this transformation. In the current political mandate, EU institutions are streamlining existing regulatory requirements through initiatives like the Digital Omnibus and the Digital Fitness Check, while developing new policies to empower European companies to compete globally and harness the power of AI, quantum computing and other emerging technologies.
Work is also underway to ensure that European institutions, national governments, critical infrastructure and industry are resilient and prepared for the future – and to ensure European industry is the driving force behind this preparedness. All of this, set against shifting geopolitical alliances and an evolving threat landscape, means that Europe must get this right.
It is against this backdrop that CyberNext Brussels 2026 returns for its third annual edition. Hosted by the Cybersecurity Coalition and the Cyber Threat Alliance, this year’s conference adopts the theme of Building the European Cybersecurity Ecosystem. This free, one-day event takes place on 15 April 2026 in at the Stanhope Hotel in Brussels, bringing together participants from EU institutions, Member State governments, industry and academia for a program of keynotes, panels and fireside chats:
- Panel 1 - Unleashing the European Cybersecurity Industry: Competition, Simplification & Financing
- Panel 2 - Europe’s Quantum Moment: Operationalizing Quantum Capabilities and Deploying Post-Quantum Cryptography
- Panel 3 - Geopolitical Shifts: Building Trusted Partnerships for a Resilient Cyberspace
- Fireside Chat - CSA 2.0 and the Future of ENISA
- Panel 4 - Beyond Compliance: Making Incident and Vulnerability Reporting Work For Everyone
Access the CyberNext website for more information on panels here.
Read Next
European Commission Announces New Action Plan To Confront Cybersecurity Challenges in the Age of AI
The European Commission released an Action Plan on Cybersecurity and AI, outlining how it intends to manage the growing cybersecurity risks associated with frontier AI models and strengthen Europe’s own AI-enabled cybersecurity capabilities.
Child Online Protection in Latin America
Digi Americas Alliance's latest report examines national approaches across six Latin American countries, highlights leading international frameworks, and offers recommendations to strengthen regional cooperation while respecting national differences.
CDM 2.0: Advancing Federal Cybersecurity
As federal agencies modernize IT systems, the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation Program must as well. This paper details recommendations on how CDM can evolve to meet new demands and threats.
