As announced by Vice President Ansip, the European Commission will present in September the new cybersecurity strategy for Europe. The European DIGITAL SME Alliance calls the Commission to focus such cybersecurity strategy on the role of SMEs.

Together with its members and with ECSO, the European Cyber Security Organisation, DIGITAL SME has developed a set of proposals to foster the SME ecosystem and strengthen Europe’s industry position in the global cybersecurity market.

‘Many people see European SMEs only as cybersecurity users. Instead, Europe is home to a lively ecosystem of SME cybersecurity vendors that constantly innovate and develop cutting edge solutions. We believe that the European Cybersecurity Strategy must focus on this SME ecosystem and, thus, create the best conditions for our cyber SME champions to become leaders in the global markets”– said Oliver Grün, President of the European DIGITAL SME Alliance.

Today, DIGITAL SME published its Position Paper “European Cybersecurity Strategy: Fostering the SME ecosystem”. It elaborates a set of proposals that aim at boosting the offer and the demand for SMEs’ cybersecurity solutions.

The position focuses in particular on the role of public procurement for cybersecurity solution. It identifies ways to make procurers more aware of SME solutions, such as a ‘EU trusted solution’ label, as well as the disclosure of tenderers supply chain in order to make European SME suppliers more visible to procurers.

Other key proposals include the establishment of the European Cybersecurity SMEs HUB that supports the consolidation of several SMEs into ad hoc new companies in order to submit offers for larger tenders, either public or private.

The position also proposes the review of the H2020 funding mechanisms, including the SME Instrument, as to make them more suitable for SMEs.

Here you can find and download DIGITAL SME’s position paper on the European Cybersecurity Strategy: