Governments, Industries, and Academia of the Netherlands and Taiwan to Cooperate Internationally on the Establishment and Protection of Information Security Infrastructure
Date: 2018/05/14
Picture Description: Witnessed by Deputy Director General Wen-Chung Chang (the 2nd from the right) of Department of International Cooperation, M.O.E.A, NTIO Innovation and Technology Department Director Wouter van Marle (the 2nd from the left), III Cyber Security Technology Institute (CSTI) Director Tsung-Nan Lin (the 1st from the left), Academia Sinica Academician Der-Tsai Lee (the 1st from the right), and Technische Universiteit Eindhoven Professor Sandro Etalle represented respective unites and signed MOU to become international strategic partners on information security issues regarding IIoT.
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To strengthen the fundamental level of information security, Academia Sinica Academician Der-Tsai Lee, who represents and leads TWISC, III Cyber Security Technology Institute (CSTI) Director Tsung-Nan Lin, and Technische Universiteit Eindhoven Professor Sandro Etalle, the founder of SecurityMatters*, signed MOU under the collective witness of representatives of the Netherlands Trade and Investment office (NTIO) and Ministry of Economic Affairs. These organizations will become international strategic partners in the field of IoT information security and work closely on basic infrastructure as well as develop information security technologies associated with industrial control system.
NTIO Innovation and Technology Department Director Wouter van Marle indicated that he is delighted to see the successful Dutch cases of collaboration between the units of academia and those in industry could be further discussed in Taiwan and the precious experience could be exchanged. He mentioned that the information security enterprises of the Netherlands lead the world in both software and hardware domains. By the triple helix model between the industry, government, and academia, the Netherlands constructs superior information security protection systems as well as fundamental infrastructure. He further expressed that since the improvement of information security should not be bound by geological boundaries, international cooperation is extremely important. Through international collaboration, the Netherlands expects to promote peace and safety in the digital field around the globe."
Academia Sinica Academician Der-Tsai Lee stressed repeatedly that without information security, there is no digital economy. To do a great job on information security and construct a reliable environment for the public, the units of academia, government, and industry have to work together and with friendly resources provided by international allies, to gradually increase the quality of research and development capability as well as protection capacity with regard to information security. III, CSTI Director Tsung-Nan Lin further pointed out that III, CSTI has long dedicated to the research and development of key technologies of information security and proactively worked in liaison with information security units of various organizations abroad so that the potential of industrial IoT development could be best revealed. The international collaboration strategy applied this time is based on the global information security market demand for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (CIIP) so as to construct solid research and development partnership with allies abroad.
The government of the Netherlands has proactively devoted to the development of information security since 2010. Integrating the resources of the academia, government and industry, the Netherlands accumulated knowledge and expertise in 5 fields including national security, urban safety, information security, criminal online infrastructure, and key infrastructure. In 2012, the City of Den Haag in which the Central Government of the Netherlands was located, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands collectively established The Hague Security Delta (HSD), a national information security innovation center and extended the core tasks to areas such as instant information gathering, education, training, and innovation. It is also the largest community of information security industry in Europe.
As a matter of fact, Taiwan proactively promotes Information and Communications Security Management Act, which has passed through the legislation process on May 11th. After its promulgation and implementation, associated organizations engaged in critical infrastructure protection (CIP) business in the central and local governments need to make adjustment according to the law. Currently, since Taiwan provides limited information security protection for critical infrastructure, the topic was listed in one of the major focuses of Information and Communications Security Management Act. At the critical milestone moment of information security improvement in the history of Taiwan, it is not only necessary for Taiwan to immediately develop the technologies for information security regarding industrial control, but also to promote the 4 year "Information Security Flagship Project" from 2017 to 2020, which was under The Fifth Stage National Information and Communications Security Development Project.
Since both Taiwan and the Netherlands value highly of the issue on information security, in the conclusion of Netherlands and Taiwan Economic & Trade Forum held in November 2017, the two sides listed the topic of information and communications security one of the most important collaboration items. After that, on March 27th, Taiwan-Israel-Netherlands Forum on Smart City Cyber Security held by Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Economic Affairs invited Eindhoven University of Technology Professor Sandro Etalle to share his precious experience. By this opportunity, The Netherlands Trade and Investment office (NTIO) and Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Economic Affairs, facilitated the communication between units of both sides so that the collaboration between Security Matters, TWISC, and III could be achieved.
This time, the strategy with regard to the international collaboration is based on the demand of information security market on the issue of IIoT and CI to build partnership for technology research and development. Looking at the side of Taiwan, one can tell that the main focuses of TWISC are theory discussion, real case research, as well as promotion and education, which are integrated with onsite practical applications. III Cybersecurity Technology Institute, however, concentrates on the research and development of critical technologies, professional level upgrading, information security related coaching and counseling as well as technology services, and technology and product development associated with information and communications security. On the other hand, Security Matters has solid power plant experience in Europe. By integrating TWISC and CSTI's experience in the manufacturing, petrochemical, and gas industries in Taiwan, Security Matters can build up internet security systems protecting critical infrastructure, the content of which extends to domains such as finance and medicare, etc.
Information security is an important cornerstone for Taiwan on digital development and homeland protection. To do a perfect job on information security and establish a reliable environment for the public, the industry, government, and academia should work diligently together. The case of international collaboration between the Netherlands and Taiwan will definitely be a great paradigm for international resource integration, the research and development of information security technology upgrading in Taiwan, and those of protection capability improvement.
*Note: The Dutch company Security Matters was founded collectively by Damiano Bolzoni and Emmanuele Zambon in 2009. At first, the team was established to solve information security issues with regard to industrial network, and became an independent enterprise later on. For so many years, Security Matters has developed products that focus on the adaptation of industrial network, which can provide real time visualized technology operation procedure. Because of its products, many operators could make identification instantly and relieve continuous threats. The company has ample successful cases and rich experience in the information security fields such as IIoT and CI. It is also the first technology service company in America to be recognized by Gartner as one of the "Cool Vendors".