Once again this year, the National Institute of Communication Technologies (INTECO) will organize the National Meeting of the Security Industry in Spain (ENISE). In this third edition, Technology Innovation in ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Security has been chosen as a central theme.

We believe that nowadays with the requirement for the optimization of resources and the specialization of roles, services and technologies, technological innovation represents an opportunity to create value in terms of improved productivity and competitiveness and professional job creation. Innovation is undoubtedly an essential requirement of a sustainable and competitive business network.

Today the Spanish ICT Security industry faces a number of challenges to be overcome in order to improve competitiveness through technological innovation. These challenges highlight: the difficulties in recruiting specialist staff in these technologies and services, limited financial resources to invest in R & D, the decision whether to make or not substantial investments to certify products and services developed and, above all, a limited but highly competitive domestic market. Our task is to turn these challenges into opportunities for the ICT security industry in Spain to become a global leader through a firm commitment to innovation. In this regard, the significant increase in public R & D and innovation that has taken place in recent years supported by various assistance schemes including the Plan Avanza has given a powerful boost to both technological innovation in enterprises and the training of professionals.

The activity of the ICT industry in Spain is closely intertwined with the new challenges facing Spanish society, and these challenges will become a theme of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2010.These include the need to address the problem of cyber security in all areas and the exploitation of the benefits obtained in certain areas as a result of the impetus of ambitious public and private projects in the fields of: digital identity, border protection, capacity for early detection of new types of threats and cybercrime, protection against different types of computer fraud, the fight against data theft via the Internet, commercial and industrial espionage, child protection network etc. I am convinced that Spanish industry will draw on these advantages to gain a key position in international markets.

Recent reports and studies by INTECO highlight the need to make a significant effort to comply with legislation relating to data protection and information security, implementation of international standards and regulations, higher levels of protection of critical infrastructure, training of our human capital and strengthening the coordination of different initiatives. These efforts are supported by our country's public policies designed to stimulate impetus in technological innovation, organization and marketing as a fundamental basis for economic development and social welfare. Additionally, large organizations and Small to Medium size Enterprises from different sectors are becoming increasingly aware of the need to invest to ensure that their information and communication systems are protected and continuously available.

Moreover, the leading countries in these technologies are taking stronger positions on this issue. This has been done recently with a review of U.S. policy on cyberspace, which includes creation of the position of a cyber czar to coordinate cyber security policies and activities across the country; the UK has also taken similar steps. Other countries like Estonia and Georgia have suffered cyber attacks on their networks that have demonstrated the need to implement plans of information infrastructure defense with powerful and effective supranational scope which in turn have an innovative impact on the industrial fabric. Cyber threats and the need to defend against them are becoming more interconnected and more global, affecting businesses, governments, citizens, infrastructure, etc. The policies, entities or bodies being created will require a strong industry to help realize these objectives, and to support these initiatives with services, products, expertise, capacity to innovation and specialized knowledge in this area.

So the great challenge is very clear: we must continuously innovate technologically to deal with new threats.

In this third edition of the ENISE forum we will debate the issue of innovation in how the Administration, companies from various sectors, suppliers of electronic services and the security industry in its role as technology partner, can contribute decisively to capitalize on opportunities
and provide solutions to address these threats. This will be the major theme around which the contents of both plenary sessions and technical workshops will revolve.

We look forward to your participation.