On February 25, the Charter of Trust held its latest virtual Brussels Roadshow, on the theme of ‘Raising the Bar in Cybersecurity Resilience’.

Screenshot of the discussion between the panelists

Over 140 people from across the Charter of Trust’s membership, the EU institutions, and the broader ecosystem of Brussels-based stakeholders tuned in to hear Natalia Oropeza, Chief Cybersecurity Officer and Chief Diversity Officer from Siemens, preview the direction of the Charter in 2021. She was followed by Lorena Boix Alonso, Director for Digital Society, Trust & Cybersecurity at the European Commission, who discussed the Commission’s plans for cybersecurity, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the SolarWinds hack.

Our first panel looked at the role of certification in raising resilience. Andreas Mitrakas from ENISA emphasised the role of trust in cybersecurity and outlined the approach taken by ENISA towards certification schemes. Representatives from Charter of Trust Partners NXP Semiconductors and SGS gave their perspectives, touching on the need for certification schemes to be implemented across the risk spectrum and emphasising the importance of edge computing.

On the second panel, Charter of Trust Partners Atos and IBM, as well as Prof Stefan Mangard from TU Graz, addressed the human element of cybersecurity. They touched on the use of AI to support human efforts to combat cybercrime, collaboration between industry and academia, and the role of collaboration hubs in sharing threat intelligence and improving collaboration overall. A key takeaway was the importance of the cultural context when it comes to working with technology.

The third panel looked at what lessons could be drawn for supply chains from the SolarWinds attack. Siemens, TÜV SÜD and AES, all Charter of Trust Partners, emphasised that no organisation had zero risk of being attacked. They discussed the implications of different levels of risk, the need for metrics and data related to cyberattacks, and outlined some of the ways that the Charter of Trust has sought to help provide an approach for medium- and low-risk targets.

The Charter of Trust will be looking at all these topics in more depth over the coming months. To keep informed, sign up to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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We are delighted to welcome Richard Skalt, Advocacy Manager at TÜV SÜD, as the new Leader of the Advocacy Workstream at the Charter of Trust. Richard steps into the role following María del Pino González-Junco, who recently assumed the position of Chair of the Global External Engagement Working Group.

With a strong background in advocacy and a forward-looking vision, Richard brings renewed energy to our mission of shaping a secure digital future. As he puts it:

“My motivation is to preserve and build upon the strong foundation of advocacy activities we’ve developed over the past years. At the same time, I’m committed to ensuring we’re in a position to shape the policies that will define how our business model and operations evolve in the future – including the cybersecurity of products and systems, the use, deployment, and distribution of robust AI solutions, as well as cloud security and secure datacenters.”

In a world defined by accelerating digital transformation and increasingly complex regulatory challenges, principled leadership and effective collaboration are more vital than ever. Under Richard’s leadership, the Advocacy Workstream will continue to engage policymakers, raise public awareness, and strengthen education around key issues such as cybersecurity, AI governance, and secure digital infrastructures.
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The Charter of Trust is proud to announce María del Pino González-Junco, Cybersecurity Alliances Manager at Siemens, as the new Chairwoman of the Global External Engagement Working Group. Her appointment marks a significant step forward in our shared mission to advance cybersecurity through strong international collaboration.

Pino’s election follows a dynamic Collaboration Week in Denmark, where Charter of Trust partners from around the world came together to align on strategy, strengthen partnerships, and reaffirm our commitment to a secure digital future. As a longstanding leader within the advocacy workstream, Pino has been instrumental in fostering open dialogue with key external stakeholders and promoting cybersecurity awareness across industries and institutions.

“A reliable digital world can only thrive if public and private institutions build trust and cyber-resilience together, share their expertise, and support society in this digital journey. Those are our goals at the Charter of Trust,” says Pino.

She takes over the role from Sumit Chanda, COO/CISO at Atos, who has guided the working group with vision and energy. We are pleased to share that Dr Chanda has since been elected Co-Chair of the Charter of Trust by the Board of Directors in February—ensuring his continued impact on the initiative’s strategic direction.

We extend our sincere thanks to Sumit for his outstanding leadership and warmly congratulate Pino on her new role.
April 24, 2025
Charter of Trust elects new co-chairs of the Board of Directors
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Charter of Trust elects new co-chairs of the Board of Directors

We are honoured to announce that Dr. Ralf Schneider, Senior Fellow and Head of Cybersecurity and NextGenIT Think Tank at Allianz and Dr. Sumit Chanda, Chief Operating Officer at Atos Group Security have been elected as new co-chairs of the Charter of Trust during our last Board of Directors meeting in Munich.

The Partners and Associated Partners thanked Natalia Oropeza, Global Chief Cybersecurity Officer at Siemens, for her engagement and steady leadership during her term as Chairwoman. In her tenure, the Charter of Trust underwent important internal and external changes. What first stands out is the smooth integration of the four working groups, which made the Charter of Trust more agile, leaner and more efficient. It is also safe to say that the alliance has never had such a high level of exposure externally, due to the Charter of Trust partners continuous dedication to the mission of the alliance.

In the spirit of industry collaboration, Natalia Oropeza expressed her support to our new Co-Chairs and said how “incredibly proud of what we have achieved together, welcoming new partners, strengthening our structure, and elevating the Charter of Trust's impact on the global cybersecurity landscape. Collaboration has been at the heart of our success, and I am confident that Dr. Sumit Chanda and Dr. Ralf Schneider as Co-Chairs, the Charter will continue to drive meaningful progress towards a more secure digital world."

For the first time in its history, the Charter of Trust will be co-chaired. Dr. Ralf Schneider from Allianz and Dr. Sumit Chanda from Atos who have decades of experience in the world of cybersecurity and have been active within the alliance for several years now. Both unite an intrinsic motivation to foster inter- and intra-sector collaboration as well as the continuous sharing of knowledge between the Partners and Associated Partners of the Charter of Trust.

For the next year the co-chairs aim to amplify the number of Partners and Associated Partners. This growth, however, should still preserve the unique features of the Charter of Trust as a large practitioner organization with member from all over the world. Expanding into new sectors and new countries is a key target for the new leadership team, so that the Alliance can continue to engage with stakeholders at the highest level.

Dr. Sumit Chanda underlined that “The Charter of Trust’s role is to promote a safe and trusted digital work.  Its unique partnership blend of large organisations, working across 190 countries, and across several sectors, has enabled it to make significant progress under the leadership of Mrs. Natalia Oropeza.  I would like to thank her for these great achievements.  Along with Dr. Ralf Schneider from Allianz, we welcome the opportunity to build on her work as the Co-Chairs of Charter of Trust.”

Ralf Schneider added that “In dynamic times with more risks, more uncertainty, and more unknowns, we as the Charter of Trust step up – to provide stability, promote reliability, and foster trust. This is our mission today and tomorrow.”.
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