Photo: Enschede Utwente Risk and resilience festival ©foto Eric Brinkhorst

Risk & Resilience Festival theme held on risk meets resilience for a sustainable future

13 November 2019
Knowledge Base

by Michel Klompmaker

On the 7th of November, the third edition of the Risk & Resilience Festival was held at the University of Twente in Enschede, which was organized by the university, the Society for Risk Management (GvRM) and Public Risk Management Organization (PRIMO). The theme surrounding this riveting event was “Risk meets Resilience for a Sustainable Future”. The overarching theme was also split into eight subthemes, which were resilience, vision & strategy, legal & compliance, technology, financial risks, human factor, operations & safety and data analytics. Around 100 speakers attended the event to share their knowledge and experiences together with about 750 people. Highlights of the event included three keynote speakers and the handing out of awards.

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Cybersecurity Quality System Paradigm (Part 2)

11 November 2019
Knowledge Base

by Costanza Matteuzzi & Aldo Pedico

In our first part of the article that has been published last week, we discussed the role of the European Union in the field of criminal law, company and personal needs, the requirements of laws, regulations and standards and the implications. Now in this second part, we will discuss the cybersecurity quality system, the paradigm, certification of the cybersecurity quality system process and finally end with a conclusion to our paper.  Continue reading…

Photo: https://pixabay.com

European Commission: A challenging road ahead

08 November 2019

The European economy is now in its seventh consecutive year of growth and is forecast to continue expanding in 2020 and 2021. Labour markets remain strong and unemployment continues to fall. However, the external environment has become much less supportive and uncertainty is running high. This is particularly affecting the manufacturing sector, which is also experiencing structural shifts. As a result, the European economy looks to be heading towards a protracted period of more subdued growth and muted inflation.

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Meeting the pace of technological change

07 November 2019

Nick Cook, Director of Innovation at the FCA “The world we are living in is changing rapidly, no more so than in financial services. The way we pay our bills, the way we choose our financial products, the way we consume financial services is almost unrecognisable from just a decade ago. Much of this change has been driven by the data revolution which means that firms now know more about their current and potential customers than ever before, allowing them to create increasingly bespoke products and experiences.”

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Cybersecurity Quality System Paradigm (Part 1)

04 November 2019

by Costanza Matteuzzi & Aldo Pedico

We have undertaken writing this article to illustrate our idea of coining a new definition of Quality System. Remaining in the corporate organizational context, until today, we have associated the canonical definition of Quality with internal processes up to their certification (for example: ISO 9001). With the technological evolution and the risks that derive from it, on the one hand, and the enactment of recent European laws, on the other, the definition of Quality System requires a revision: conceptual (mentality), methodology (procedures), technology (products) and technical (activities or modes of intervention).

Our revision imposes the adaptation, in whole or in part, of the current way of approaching personal and business information processing systems, achieving an adjustment to current and increasingly complex needs. Here, we wanted to demonstrate our new assertion by illustrating and applying the new concepts. This assertion, as described in the following paragraphs, enriches the Quality System with the Cybersecurity value; this value is assigned a position of absolute and of primary importance, to the point of conferring a new and more adequate axiom: Cybersecurity Quality System.

This article will be published in two parts; the second part will be published next week. 

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Juncker Plan has made major impact on EU jobs and growth

29 October 2019

The Investment Plan for Europe, the Juncker Plan, has played a key role in boosting jobs and growth in the EU. Investments by the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group backed by the Juncker Plan’s European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) have increased EU gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.9% and added 1.1 million jobs compared to the baseline scenario. By 2022, the Juncker Plan will have increased EU GDP by 1.8% and added 1.7 million jobs. These are the latest calculations by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Economics Department of the EIB Group, based on financing agreements approved until the end of June 2019.

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Lieve Lowet

Lieve Lowet

EU Affairs consultant and lobbyist

EIOPA consults extensively on the Solvency II review

28 October 2019

On 15 October 2019, EIOPA, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, published an extensive and long consultation paper (878 pages!) to prepare for the review of the Solvency II framework directive. Since 1 January 2016, about 2800 insurers and reinsurers in the EU apply Solvency II. The directive is up for a selective mandatory review by the Commission by 1 January 2021. Therefore, EIOPA must complete its technical advice in the form of an Opinion to the European Commission by 30 June 2020. The review of Solvency II directive is broad: the consultation covers 19 topics.  Continue reading…