Professor Susana Sanz and research assistant Zitan Peng attended the 4th edition of the EU-HYBNET international conference, an event held on the 23 and 24 of April, organized by Valencia Local Police.
EU-HYBNET (Empowering a Pan-European Network to Counter Hybrid Threats), is a project founded by the European Union’s research and innovation program, Horizon 2020.
The event was held entirely in English, took place at the Valencia Local Police Headquarters, host and member of the EU-HYBNET network.
During the first day, the IV Seminar on Future Trends took place,
- The Delegate Councilor of the Local Police of Valencia together with the Chief Commissioner of the Local Police of Valencia welcomed the participants,
- Later, conferences took place on the topics of “Models for conflict analysis and observations on Hybrid Threat management”, given by the Delegate of Innovation for Hybrid Threats and Resilience, General Intelligence and Security Service of Belgium, Belgian Armed Forces,
- followed by a round table made up of professionals from different areas of security, both state and European community. On “Border Management to Counter Hybrid Threats.”
- Afterwards, several parallel sessions took place on the detection and diagnosis of the current situation in Europe, as well as the situation in the near future.
- And finally, the Head of the Office for Training Planning at FRONTEX made a presentation on the “FRONTEX Perspective on Hybrid Threats in border management”
On the second day, April 24, the IV annual EU-HYBNET Conference was held,
- which began with 3 main presentations:
- The first, “From analysis to (re)action: a framework for online protection”, presentation by the Head of Information Systems of the European External Action Service (EEAS)./ Strategic Communication and Information Analysis
- the second, “The EU approach to countering Hybrid Threats”, presentation by the EEAS/SECDEFPOL Policy Officer.2, Hybrid and Cyber Threats, Hybrid Threats Sector
- and, the third, “European elections 2024 and Hybrid Threats”, presentation by the Director of Technologies and Information, DG SAFE-European Parliament.
- Afterwards, the EU-HYBNET consortium gave a presentation on the latest findings and results.
- Finally, eight exhibitions were held focusing on innovations and solutions to address Hybrid Threats, presented by various organizations and projects. These included everything from software specialized in detecting disinformation campaigns, to possible hybrid threats in smart cities, and the use of video game platforms as radicalization tools, among other topics.
As is evident, two intense days of work were carried out, in which, thanks to the excellent organization, all the elements worked precisely, like the mechanism of a Swiss watch.
From the scrupulous compliance with the set times of the activities and the speakers’ interventions, to the simultaneous translation service, they demonstrate the attention that the organizers of this event have had, down to the most minute details.
And of course, highlight the kindness and welcome that the Valencia Local Police has given us to professor Susana Sanz and research assistant Zitan Peng.
From the research team “Rule of Law Crisis in the EU” of the CEU Cardenal Herrera University we want to congratulate Valencia Local Police for the great work in organizing this international conference and for strengthening the EU-HYBNET network.