This is the text of a keynote speech given by the IEC General Secretary Frans Vreeswijk at the Vienna Cyber Security Week. The theme of the event was protecting critical infrastructure.

The IEC is co-organizing the Vienna Cyber Security Week, a high-level conference on the theme of “Protecting Critical Infrastructure”. The event is taking place in Vienna, Austria, from 11 to 15 March 2019.

The IEC Market Strategy Board (MSB) has been set up to identify key technology trends and market needs. Comprised of high-level industry leaders and IEC officers, the MSB provides recommendations on new technologies that potentially could benefit from international standards.

In anticipation of its annual meeting in Davos this week, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has issued its Global Risk Report 2019.

Scientists predict that quantum computers will eventually be able to solve incredibly complex computational problems much faster than any technology we have today. They could bring massive benefits, but the technology also poses a huge  risk for some of our most sensitive data.

A smart city is a city where improvements in quality of life, city services, sustainability and resilience are accelerated by the widespread and transformative use of data and technology.

The European Aviation Safety Agency estimates that some 1 000 cyber attacks target aviation systems worldwide each month.

The IEC Young Professionals (YP) Programme was set up to increase the involvement of the next generation of IEC experts in standardization and conformity assessment activities.

Like many other industries, shipping is increasingly dependent upon digitalisation and automation. With the convergence of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT), more systems are being connecting to the Internet.

The integration and alignment of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) in the industrial internet of things (IIoT) has created new challenges for cyber security. That was the key message from a high-level cyber security summit in the Chinese city of Chengdu.