On May 25th/26th, EKSISTENZ will join with the Porvoo Group for the EKSISTENZ Final Event, bringing together a wide range of speakers and topics with a focus on what comes next in relation to identity in this changing world. It will be hosted by Agenzia per l’Italia Digitale (AgID). The draft agenda can be downloaded here along with the official conference website here.

The conference will consider how the various initiatives can support the movement towards having more mature and valuable interoperable identity schemes. The programme has been arranged by the Porvoo Group, and eForum representing the EKSISTENZ Project supported by EEMA.

A core focus of the Porvoo Group is keeping abreast of what the national representatives are doing in their own countries. Therefore, there will be updates from a variety of countries including Estonia, Belgium and Finland. Additional insights will be provided from outside the EU and there will also be a focus on how this experience can best be shared with the developing world and also, how the existing networks can strengthen their cooperation.

In addition to updates on eIDAS, there will be reports on the work of no fewer than six ongoing EU funded projects in the field:

• EKSISTENZ
• CREDENTIAL
• FUTURETRUST
• LIGHTest
• ARIES
• KONFIDO PROJECT

For more information and to register, visit the conference website here.

ENISA’s Annual Privacy Forum (APF) is to be held in Vienna on the 7th and 8th June 2017, in collaboration with the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna. This year’s edition is organised in the light of the implementation of the newly promulgated General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and, the recent EC proposal for a Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications.
Even the best legislative efforts face the challenge of keeping up to speed with the pace of innovative technology and business models that challenge the way personal data is processed and privacy is protected across the EU and beyond; therefore examining what is at stake and where threats thereto originate from becomes of paramount importance.

For more information visit this link.

The High Level Group of the Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) has published a new independent scientific opinion on cybersecurity in the Digital Single Market. At the request of the Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip, the scientific advisers make a number of recommendations to make it easier and safer for people and businesses to operate online in the EU.

The opinion includes recommendations:

• On making systems more secure, including by avoiding ‘backdoors’ that bypass normal authentication processes and by using state of the art standards for encryption. The opinion also recommends a duty of care principle towards consumers that ensures that systems are well maintained and reduces technical vulnerabilities in hardware and software.
• On empowering users through ‘context tailored’ digital identities so that people are only asked for the data necessary to secure an online transaction and by giving people more choice and control over their data.
• On strengthening Europe’s strategically important cybersecurity industry, including by ensuring that people have the necessary skills.
• On improving the coordination and sharing across Europe of information on cyber-incidents and ensuring adequate technical expertise in European bodies. The opinion also calls for a global cybersecurity governance framework, in which the EU would play a leading role.

More information can be found here.