Sebastian Coe presented the opening conference session on the third and final day of the information security show Infosecurity Europe 2017.
Reflecting on his experiences of the 2012 London Olympic Games, the former Olympic athlete and President of the IAAF discussed the importance of building relationships with stakeholders, why creating a strong vision and communicating it clearly from the start is essential, and how overcoming the speed at which information comes at us, in the age of social media, is becoming increasingly significant.
Lord Coe said: “We stress tested our IT systems for 200,000 hours in the last couple of years leading up to the Olympic Games. In the end we processed over 20 or so million ticket applications, and while the systems slowed down at certain points they never once crashed. There are no risk-free options in the delivery of something like the Olympic Games, but I think overall we left the country in much better shape.”
Nicole Mills, Exhibition Director at Infosecurity Europe said: “This year has seen the culmination of the efforts in the last few years to transform and grow the Infosecurity Group portfolio, with Infosecurity Europe being the jewel in our crown. Our speaker programme, which every year goes from strength-to-strength, was jam-packed with inspirational keynotes and the most talented voices from across the industry. We continued to showcase the very best innovations and technologies out there and welcomed over 100 new exhibiting companies, giving them the ideal platform to gain exposure for their products and services. Looking ahead, we are extremely excited to be launching our first ever Infosecurity North America show in Boston this October, and are looking forward to building on the success of this show for next year as we expand our presence at Olympia.”
The forensic cyberpsychologist Professor Mary Aiken became the 2017 inductee into the Infosecurity Europe Hall of Fame. She participated in a wide ranging session, recounting anecdotes from her career, talking about her research projects and sharing her insights on threats, which was followed by a book signing. She said: “I am delighted to be inducted into Infosecurity Europe’s Hall of Fame, particularly as this award is made by the professionals who work in the information security sector and is therefore an acknowledgement of the important contribution of my discipline cyberpsychology.”
New for 2017, the Talking Tactics theatre became the tenth theatre to be launched across the show. It showcased real-life lessons from across the IT security industry. The 2018 event runs at Olympia from June 5 to 7.
