The Washington D.C. metropolitan area ranks as the 5th largest regional economy in the United States. It also boasts one of the world's top three regional cybersecurity ecosystems, extending from Virginia's Dulles International Airport, through the District of Columbia, to Maryland's suburbs near Baltimore. Being the capital, the region hosts numerous government agencies, as well as a substantial military and defense ecosystem. Being home to significant government and educational institutions, including NSA, Cyber Command, CISA and large federally funded research institutions, and a flourishing startup and high-tech innovation culture, the cybersecurity ecosystem benefits from access to a specialised workforce, knowledge sharing, capital resources, and strong inter-organizational connections.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s new National Cybersecurity Strategy stipulates that all Americans deserve a secure and digital future, creating opportunities for more long-term investments into cybersecurity. Thus, making it interesting for foreign cybersecurity companies to explore the US market and introduce innovative technologies and solutions.
Draft Programme
Crossovers with the financial sector, critical infrastructure and, of course, government.
Networking with US stakeholders: 1-on-1 matchmaking and happy hours with the local network and some of your (potential) customers and partners by invitation.
As a founder, you will gain valuable knowledge about the US market, validate your proposition and go-to-market strategy, and gain perspective on doing business in the US
Below you can find the preliminary programme (to be confirmed), which will be further developed in the next few weeks.
Sunday, October 15 – Virginia
Arrival in Virginia with KLM
Optional visit to the International Spy Museum (at own expense)
Monday, October 16 - Virginia
Session with MACH37, largest cyber accelerator in the United States
Site visit to company like Splunk to discuss opportunities for cybersecurity providers in various sectors
Site visit to company like Leidos/Booz Allen Hamilton to discuss government contracting and current trends within the industry
Fairfax County happy hour with local business network
Tuesday, October 17 – Washington DC
Panel on cybersecurity in the financial services sector including representatives from organizations such as VISA, Mastercard, ING, GEICO, CapitolOne or E Trade
VC panel on the latest trends and developments within the cybersecurity ecosystem
Session on US policy and impact (opportunities and challenges) including presentation from CISA on implementation of US National Cyber Strategy
Panel presentation with TSA, DHS, Amazon Web Services/Google on perspectives on US cybersecurity ecosystem.
B2B matchmaking (limited availability and subject to charge, not included in participation fee)
Networking event at the Embassy of the Netherlands in D.C.
Wednesday, October 18 – Maryland
Site visit to Dreamport/MISI
Softlanding in the US seminar on do’s and don’ts, incorporation, taxation, etc.
Session with Cybersecurity Association Maryland and/or MD Tech Council
Tour of Port of Baltimore with cybersecurity team
Thursday, October 19 – Maryland and Washington DC
Session on critical infrastructure and cybersecurity with Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) and/or Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
Panel and discussion on cybersecurity prevention and rapid response in critical infrastructure with entities such as Amtrak, Shell, Geico, AT&T, Dragos
Session on hacking with Department of Defense (DoD), Palo Alto Networks and/or Mandiant
Site visit to critical infrastructure (TBC)
Friday, October 20 – Virginia
University visit to George Mason University or Virgina Tech
Session with Dulles International Airport (IAD) cyber team at the airport
Return flight to Netherlands
B2B Matchmaking Opportunity
PIB Cybersecurity US
This trade mission is made possible by the PIB Cybersecurity US, a 3-year programme coordinated by InnovationQuarter, Security Delta (HSD) and the Netherlands Economic Network in the United States and Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).
The current members of the PIB Cluster include: Attic Security | Awareways | aXite Security Tools| Compumatica | DTACT | EclecticIQ | PRODAFT | Radically Open Security | Ubiqu | Zivver
For more information about the programme and possible opportunities to join the PIB, please contact Martine Koole (martine.koole@innovationquarter.nl) or Paul Coumans, or visit the website: https://tradewithnl.nl/en/cybersecurity-usa
