The 3rd ECSCI (European Cluster for Securing Critical Infrastructures) Workshop on

Critical Infrastructure Protection and Resilience

Venue: Tecnalia, Bilbao, Spain and Online

Dates: 29-30 April 2025

Guidelines for online participation

Venue Ιnformation

Scope

Modern Critical Infrastructures (CI) are becoming increasingly complex and distributed, large-scale cyber-physical systems or increasingly interconnected and interdependent to other CIs. Cyber-physical attacks are increasing in number, scope, and sophistication, making it difficult to prepare for them and predict their total impact. Thus, addressing cyber security and physical security separately is no longer effective. Still, more integrated approaches that consider both physical and cyber-security risks, along with their interrelationships, interactions, and cascading effects, are needed to face the challenge of combined cyber-physical or even hybrid attacks.

This workshop will present the different approaches to integrated cyber and physical security in different industrial sectors, such as energy, transport, drinking and wastewater, health, digital infrastructure, banking and financial market, space and public administration. The peculiarities of critical infrastructure protection in each one of these sectors will be discussed and addressed by the different projects of the ECSCI cluster that will present their outcomes, discussing the technical, ethical and societal aspects and the underlying technologies.

Specifically, novel techniques will be presented for integrated security modelling, IoT security, artificial intelligence for securing critical infrastructures, distributed ledger technologies for security information sharing and increased automation for detection, prevention and mitigation measures, and AI for resilience of critical infrastructures.

The workshop will include keynote speeches, projects presentations, roundtable and panel discussions, and thematic presentations. It is intended for scientists and experts in the field of critical infrastructure protection, CISOs, CIOs, CERTs, CSIRTs, CSOs, cyber and physical security experts representing different sectors and policy makers for critical infrastructure resilience.

Check the agenda of Workshop! 🗓️

Organizing Committee

Habtamu Abie, Norsk Regnesentral/Norwegian Computing Center, Norway

Ilias Gkotsis, Inlecom Innovation, Greece

Manos Athanatos, Technical University of Crete, Greece

Lorenzo Lodi, Zanasi & Partners, Italy

Denis Čaleta, Institute for Corporate Security Studies, Slovenia

Aleksandar Jovanovic, EU-VRi, Germany

Nina Jirouskova, Resilient Worlds, UK

Rita Ugarelli, SINTEF, Norway

Isabel Praça, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Portugal

Erkuden Rios Velasco, TECNALIA, Spain

Jason X. Mansell, TECNALIA, Spain

Keynote Speakers

Marianthi Theocharidou

ENISA

Dr Marianthi Theocharidou is a cybersecurity expert at ENISA. She works for the Resilience of Critical sectors unit, where she supports the implementation of the NIS Directive. She is engaged in topics such as cyber threat landscapes, cyber risk management measures and supply chain security. Prior to joining ENISA, she worked on critical infrastructure protection, risk assessment and hybrid threats for the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. She was an Adjunct Lecturer with the Department of Informatics, Athens University of Economics and Business. She holds a BSc on Informatics, a MSc on Information Systems and a PhD on ICT Security and Critical Infrastructural Protection with Athens University of Economics and Business.

Polyvios HADJIYIANGOU

European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC)

Polyvios Hadjiyiangou has over 15 years of experience within European institutions, including the European Parliament, the European Commission, and Joint Undertakings. He currently serves as the Head of Operations at the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC). He holds a Diploma in International and European Economic and Political Studies from the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece, and a Master of Arts in European Integration from the University of Essex, United Kingdom. Additionally, he has obtained an Accounting Certificate from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examination Board.

His expertise lies in the implementation of Research Framework Programmes and related policies, covering a broad range of areas such as strategic planning, programme management, policy and impact analysis. He has overseen the full lifecycle of calls for proposals and tenders - from inception to execution, monitoring, and resource allocation - ensuring efficiency and measurable impacts.

Throughout his career, Polyvios has worked to bridge the gap between the public and private sectors, fostering collaboration and promoting innovation across various fields, including cybersecurity, medicines and health, circular bio-based industries and aviation. He has engaged with a diverse range of stakeholders—research organisations, academia, large industries, SMEs, startups, public authorities, non-governmental organisations, civil society, and international organisations—driving cooperation and leveraging investment in EU-funded research projects.

Roberto Cascella

ECSO

Roberto Cascella is the Chief Technology Officer at the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO), where he leads two key technical working groups influencing European cybersecurity strategies. He focuses on shaping the cybersecurity research and innovation roadmap and establishing trusted supply chains at the EU level. Roberto also represents ECSO on several committees, including the Stakeholders Cybersecurity Certification Group (SCCG) under the Cybersecurity Act. Previously, Roberto coordinated the European Cybersecurity Community Support project (ECCO) from 2022 to 2024, funded by the Digital Europe Programme (DEP). This project supported the development and coordination of the Cybersecurity Competence Community across Europe, in alignment with the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC) and National Coordination Centres Network. Roberto holds a Ph.D. in Information and Communication Technology from the University of Trento, and an M.Sc. in Telecommunication Engineering from Politecnico di Torino and KTH Stockholm.

Giannis Skiadaresis

DG HOME

Mr. Giannis Skiadaresis is currently the Area Coordinator for Disaster Resilient Societies (DRS) Strengthened Security research and Innovation (SSRI) in the Unit on Security Research and Innovation of Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME) in European Commission. Mr. Skiadaresis holds an MA in EU International Relations and Diplomacy, from the College of Europe in Bruges where he was a laureate of ENP-EU scholarship awarded by the European Commission. He has also graduated from the Leadership programme of Harvard Kennedy School and from the Strategic Innovation Programme of University of Oxford. He has worked in the Cabinet of Commissioner Avramopoulos on Migration, Home affairs and Citizenship and in other posts at DG HOME in the European Commission. His experience also includes Industrial Policy, Foresight, New Technologies and Innovation, International relations, security and defence policy, and business development.

Georgios Valsamos

JRC

Dr. Georgios Valsamos holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Computational Mechanics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Over the last two years, he led a team at the Joint Research Centre, focusing on hybrid threats and the resilience of critical infrastructure. He has authored over 40 publications and book chapters and possesses a strong background in developing numerical models to assess structural vulnerabilities.

Oliver Seiffarth

DG HOME - F2-Innovation and Security Research / CERIS

Oliver Seiffarth works as coordinator for the Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (CERIS) in the European Commission (DG HOME). He is also involved in setting up the European Critical Communication System (EUCCS) for first responders by 2030. Previously, he worked on border management and migration related issues in the European Commission and in selected EU Member States.

Yoram Kannangara

DG Migration and Home Affairs - D2 Counter-Terrorism

Yoram Kannangara is a policy officer in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, in the Counter-terrorism Unit. More specifically, in the resilience team, where he coordinates policy pertaining to critical infrastructure protection, hybrid threats, counter-sabotage, and counter-drones, amongst other topics. Before this, he spent several years representing the Netherlands on similar security issues, with additional experience in climate and foreign policy, as well as in the energy sector. Yoram has an academic background in cybersecurity, international relations, history, and cultural anthropology.

Panelists

Philippe Cotelle

Board member of Ferma (Federation of European Risk Management Associations), chairman of the European Digital Committee, Board member of Amrae (French risk management association) and president of the cyber commission, Philippe Cotelle is also Head of Airbus Defence and Space Insurance Risk Management and coordinator of the cyber Insurance program of Airbus Group.

Philippe Cotelle is the pilot of the Lucy study (Light Upon Cyberinsurance) which is the reference study of the evolution of the cyber insurance market in France. He was the representative of Amrae in the working group of the French Ministry of Finance for the report they issued on cyber insurance.

Philippe Cotelle was also at the origin of the creation of Miris, the first Cyber Insurance Mutual in Europe.

Philippe Cotelle is a space engineer graduated from Ecole Nationale supérieure de l’aéronautique et de l’espace and hold an Executive MBA from Essec Business School and Mannheim University.

David Baker

David Baker is an Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, based in Brussels. He supports countries in developing and implementing financing strategies to reduce disaster risk, strengthen resilience to climate change, enhance critical infrastructure systems, and promote private sector and SME resilience.

Previously, David served as a Finnish government-funded Junior Professional Officer (JPO) at UNDRR in both Brussels and Suva, Fiji, where he worked across coordination, project management, and communications roles on a range of local, national, and regional resilience-building initiatives and advocacy efforts. Prior to joining the UN, he was a Policy Analyst at the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in London, supporting policies and programmes related to humanitarian assistance, climate change, DRR, and development cooperation with emerging donors.

David holds master's degrees in European Studies and International Cooperation from KU Leuven and Seoul National University, respectively.

George Saveriades

Dr. George Saveriades is a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors at Cyprus Seeds. Cyprus Seeds is a non-profit whose mission is to help commercialize Cypriot academic research. To date, Cyprus Seeds has funded 19 projects, of which 6 turned into spinoffs, and 1 led to licensing
agreements with US-based pharmaceutical companies. Cyprus Seeds is funded by individuals, Foundations such as The Hellenic Initiative and the A.G. Leventis Foundation, Cypriot corporations (such as Eurobank, PwC) and the Research Innovation Foundation, the Cypriot national authority in charge of supporting and promoting research, technological development and innovation.

Cyprus Seeds was recently ranked 104th in Europe's Leading Start-up Hubs 2025 by the Financial Times, Statista and Sifted, and 13th in the Eastern Europe region. Dr. George Saveriades is also involved as an investor and advisor in a number of European startups, more particularly in the Deep Tech space.

Savina Carluccio

Savina Carluccio is the Executive Director of the International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure (ICSI) and a fervent advocate of the role of civil engineers in tackling our society’s biggest challenges. She is an experienced Civil Engineer and infrastructure practitioner with over two decades of experience advising government, infrastructure owners and operators, multilateral development banks and NGOs to develop and implement inclusive, sustainable and resilient infrastructure that is fit for the future. Prior to taking her role at ICSI, she was an infrastructure advisor at Arup and the Head of Guidance and Standards at the Resilience Shift. She also serves on several international advisory and technical committees on the topic of sustainable and resilient infrastructure.