The Energypact Foundation was established in 2007 in Switzerland as a non-profit and non-political organisation by Alexandre Dimitrijevic, Founder and President, and moved to Vienna in 2017. The Foundation is currently in the process of being re-registered in Switzerland. Its mission is to promote the balanced use of energy sources with the objective of reconciling innovation, economic development and the protection of the environment. In order to better respond to threats to energy infrastructures, during the last two years, the EnergyPact Foundation has increasingly focused on cyber security for the energy sector.
The Foundation
This focus is reflected in the foundation’s vision:
An international collaborative community of technologically and risk informed leadership, researchers, implementers, and stakeholders for the development, sustainability, and security of energy production, transmission, and delivery to address today’s challenges and tomorrow’s needs.
Energy, Cyber Security, Development
Awareness – Training – Research
Protecting critical energy infrastructure
ENERGY, CYBER SECURITY, DEVELOPMENT A new triad to address the emergence of energy security as the foremost global challenge
ENERGYPACT FOUNDATION KEY FEATURES
The development, security, and sustainability of energy are key components of national and international growth and stability.
AWARENESS-TRAINING-RESEARCH
Since its inception, the EnergyPact Foundation has engaged the international energy community through activities aimed at raising the global awareness on issues related to energy development and sustainability. These activities have included coordination and sponsorship of multiple international conferences for information exchange and confidence building.
Awareness
Promoting dialogue and international co-operation on security issues for the energy sector.
Training
Establishing the Industrial Control Systems Security Centre in Vienna, Austria, with the goal of providing human resource development activities for leadership, management and employees.
Research
Nurturing a collaborative research network for the energy sector.
AWARENESS
Promoting Dialogue and International Co-operation
Since its inception, the EnergyPact Foundation has engaged the international energy community through activities aimed at raising the global awareness on issues related to energy development and sustainability. These activities have included coordination and sponsorship of multiple international conferences for information exchange and confidence building.
The EnergyPact Foundation intends to further focus its efforts by addressing energy and cyber security, including through the establishment in Vienna of an annual platform of dialogue and international co-operation on the subject. This platform aims to bring together decision makers, political and industry leaders, experts, international organisations and NGO’s.
The inaugural multi-stakeholder conference in Vienna, “Cyberspace, Energy & Development: Protecting Critical Energy Infrastructures”, which will take place on February 16, 2017, will be hosted by the National Defence Academy, co-organised by the EnergyPact Foundation with the Austrian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence, the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, the CSP Austrian Cybersecurity Platform and supported by international organizations.
The inaugural multistakeholder conference will be immediately followed on February 17, 2017 by an international business high level panel, dedicated to ceo’s of large corporations « Digital Security: Protecting Strategic Business Leadership » also hosted by the National Defence Academy.
TRAINING
The Industrial Control Systems Security Centre
Industrial Control systems (ICS) are computer-based systems that support operational processes, safety, and security functions for the industrial sector and critical infrastructure. Due to their pivotal operational role, ICS are becoming a preferred target for cyber-attacks.
In 2018, in collaboration with Austrian governmental, industrial and academic partners, the EnergyPact Foundation will establish the Industrial Control Systems Security Centre (ICS Security Centre) in Vienna, Austria.
The ICS Security Centre is envisioned as an international resource for use by governmental, non-governmental, and industry organisations for collaborative research, hands-on training, and information exchange regarding the security of industrial control systems used in the energy sector for safety, security and operations. Key security focus areas include oil and gas production, nuclear power plants and associated facilities, renewables, and electricity delivery infrastructures. Also, the Centre will have regional satellite offices and activities to address regional energy needs.
The ICS Security Centre will have a number of operational elements to serve the energy community ranging from laboratory facilities to support security research and hands-on training to accommodations for resident researchers, visiting scientists and interns from the international community.
The lack of computer security professionals increasingly has become a pressing issue for all industry sectors, whereas the energy sector is further challenged to find security experts that understand the industrial control environment and the operational parameters specific to the energy sector.
One of the core purposes of the Centre is improving information technology security awareness and capacity building for the management and operational personnel within the energy sector. The EnergyPact Foundation will implement a series of professional training courses and workshops that seek to heighten cyber security awareness, enhance cyber security skills of the current workforce and promote new cyber security professionals within the energy and ICS community.
RESEARCH
Nurturing A Collaborative Research Network
The industrial control systems that support energy production, transmission, distribution and ultimately end-use represent complex, intertwined computer-based systems and networks merging state-of-the-art technologies with legacy systems. Implementing cyber security for these systems is extremely challenging. Research is needed across multiple operational areas, and includes the development of methodologies to determine and assess their security and associated risks, the development of protective measures for both new and legacy systems, the detection of cyber-attacks as well as the monitoring of system resilience.
The EnergyPact Foundation with its strategic partner, the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, will implement a research agenda in order to investigate some of the challenging research areas facing ICS in the energy sector. Many States are developing research facilities within their respective national laboratory complexes and within academia. The EnergyPact Foundation seeks to collaborate with such entities as well as developing active partnerships with a number of industrial sectors by creating an international research and information sharing centre that addresses development and security challenges surrounding sustainable energy deployment.
The results of the research will be used to enhance the security of industrial control systems, but will also be used to strengthen the ICS Security Centre’s training and education programme.