“Software is eating the world”: such were the words of Marc Andreeseen, the co-founder of Netscape, in a Wall Street Journal column in 2011. And as a matter of fact, reality will most probably go beyond imagination, since digital transformation, which started 30 years ago, is picking up speed and radically changing our institutions and way of life. This “second skin”, which superimposes and progressively irrigates the material world, is shaking up our design, production and distribution processes and, consequently, the traditional value chains. It is affecting the entire economy, from primary to tertiary sectors. The same applies to positions within companies: the digital world is no longer the prerogative of specialists, as clearly illustrated by the gradual shift of IT expenditure towards core business activities.

But this digital revolution demands ever more reliability and safety to establish the trust framework that is required for new uses to flourish. This applies for three levels. For companies, the use of cloud-based CRM or ERP software requires a clear vision of risks and the use of safety solutions that offer end-to-end data control. The issues at stake here are economic competitiveness and control over the company’s strategic data. For individuals, personal data have become a real market, from which the interested party is actually excluded. Here, the issues at stake are privacy protection and individual liberties. As for States, the transnational nature of cyberspace is accelerating the erosion of state sovereignty, which is indeed mostly territorial by nature. To best regulate this digital transformation, States must renew their governance methods and engage with other stakeholders, such as companies and civil society.
These three aspects will be at the heart of the debates of the 7th FIC, which will focus on the role of cybersecurity in digital transformation. The discussions will follow three main themes. First of all, innovation: technologies and new services in the field of security and digital trust can act as catalysts and boosters in this transformation. Then, data: the black gold of the 21st century and the fuel powering the digital transformation. Of paramount importance is data protection, a theme at the heart of the European digital agenda, where dogmatism should be avoided so as to favour the development of new uses. Finally, the role of human beings in cybersecurity: humans are both the weakest link and, potentially, the strongest link.
To tackle these themes, FIC 2015, together with its public and private partners, has set several objectives. First, to develop a multi-stakeholder approach that will bring together providers, users, public stakeholders, academia and representatives of the civil society. Then, to offer a higher added-value content, in particular through new smaller workshops (agora, strategic simulation exercise and masterclasses) designed for targeted audiences (senior management, CISOs, risk managers, etc.). In that respect, a call for contributions open to all will be launched early June 2014. Lastly, to continue extending the international dimension of the event. In this ever-changing transnational space, the development of exchanges, cooperation and commercial partnerships are unavoidable.
We thus invite you to join us in Lille on January 20th & 21st 2015!
The FIC team

The schedule

https://www.forum-fic.com/2015/home/