Foundation Programs

5th Transatlantic Market Conference: Transatlantic Cooperation for Growth and Security

Protecting Critical Technology and Infrastructure

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Washington, D.C., October 16-18, 2011

In October 2011 the Draeger Foundation, together with DIN the German Institute for Standardization, the German American Business Council (GABC) and the Sigram Schindler Foundation in Berlin, held the fifth conference on German-American economic relations. The topic was IT security, intellectual property rights, and cyber security.

Civil security is receiving growing attention on both sides of the Atlantic, where it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain the balance between national security requirements and society's acceptance of security measures. The focus is on the development of new technologies and services as a result of rising security requirements that are of ever greater complexity. Damages from cyber attacks and the introduction of new technologies for the protection of sensitive areas mean ever rising costs for the companies concerned. We should like to discuss the action that is needed to protect critical infrastructures, i.e. transatlantic cooperation in the field of information technology, patent protection and supply chain security, and new strategies to counter cyber attacks.

As Dr. Christian Ehler MEP, member of the Subcommittee for Security and Defence of the European Parliament and one of our keynote speakers, comments: "The U.S. and Europe follow their own security strategies to protect their citizens and infrastructures. The threats, however, are the same. Let us use this conference in order to learn from each other and strengthen our cooperation."

In our preparations for the conference we were once again being supported by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Washington, D.C., the German American Chamber of Commerce, Inc., New York, NY, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C., as well as the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), Washington, D.C., the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, Frankfurt/Main, and the German Embassy to the United States, Washington, D.C. Once again the German embassy hosted a dinner.