The event brought together executives from foreign multinational corporations based in the capital to analyze the importance of cybersecurity within business strategy. CEIM President, Miguel Garrido, highlighted the strategic value of cybersecurity for Madrid's ecosystem and its positioning as a destination for investment. "When a city suffers a cybersecurity crisis, it's not just the administration that is affected; business activity, citizen confidence, and the city's image as a reliable place for business also suffer," he stated.
Óscar Romera, General Coordinator of Economy, Commerce, and Consumption for the Madrid City Council, placed cybersecurity at the core of competitiveness. He outlined the key elements of this approach: legal security, human capital, infrastructure, institutional stability, and public-private collaboration, summarizing them under the concept of trust. "Once a critical infrastructure is attacked and service is compromised, all the work done from a trust perspective is lost in a minute," he warned, urging professionals to commit to mutual learning.
Eduvigis Ortiz, president of Women4Cyber Spain, emphasized that cyber resilience is the digital translation of business continuity. "The ecosystem is only as strong as each of its companies," she stressed, urging the creation of a shared environment of trust where all actors assume their responsibility and cooperation.
Representatives from multinational corporations, moderated by María Jesús Romero de Ávila, Director General of Economy for the Madrid City Council, shared their experiences. They addressed topics such as the vulnerability of SMEs, the need to elevate cybersecurity to the strategic agenda of boards of directors, and the urgency of moving from shared diagnoses to concrete commitments and actions.
All participants agreed that cybersecurity is a priority element for the competitiveness of any organization and city, not merely a defense matter. Information was also provided on the support and 'aftercare' services that CEIM offers free of charge to foreign-capital companies operating in Madrid.
