Prof. Dr. Bettina Schneider talks about Cybersecurity at the Upper Rhine Council
On September 18, 2023, members of the Economy – Labor Market – Health Commission of the Upper Rhine Council, chaired by Basel City Councillor Andrea Elisabeth Knellwolf, gathered in Saint-Louis. The agenda for the meeting, in the context of the thematic priorities for 2023, primarily focused on the topic of cybersecurity.
The commission members were welcomed to the Saint-Louis Town Hall by Mayor Pascale Schmidiger, Vice President of the Collectivité Européenne d’Alsace and a member of the Executive Board and the Economy – Labor Market – Health Commission of the Upper Rhine Council.
To delve into the topic of cybersecurity, which was being addressed for the first time by the Upper Rhine Council, the commission invited two experts to give presentations. Initially, Mr. Franck Olivier, Digital Affairs Officer for the Grand Est Region, discussed the challenges in cybersecurity, both in general and specifically for the Upper Rhine region. His presentation was complemented by Dr. Prof. Bettina Schneider, Professor of Cybersecurity & Digital Trust at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland and Head of the Trinational Cybersecurity Days, who focused on the topic with respect to concrete trinational projects and challenges, with a particular emphasis on the perspective of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
As an initiative of the commission, a draft resolution on cross-border cooperation in the field of cybersecurity is set to be presented to the plenary session of the Upper Rhine Council on December 1, 2023.
Furthermore, Dr. Irene Renz, Head of the Health Promotion Division in the Department of Health of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, in her capacity as Co-Chair of the Health Policy Working Group of the Upper Rhine Conference, reported on their activities. Collaboration and close exchanges between the commissions of the Upper Rhine Council and the working groups of the Upper Rhine Conference are priorities for both institutions.