The meeting was chaired by Mr. Cedric Neike, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO Digital Industries, and Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference.

All Charter of Trust members agreed that the past year, with the accelerated digitization but also increased cyber threats that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, internal cooperation across global industrial sectors – the raison d’être of the Charter of Trust – had become more relevant than ever. Members of the Charter of Trust therefore reaffirmed their determination to work towards fostering an ecosystem of trust where knowledge is shared, innovation encouraged, and resilience against cybersecurity threats improved.

Among the key steps endorsed by the Board of Directors was the decision to prepare the launch of a “Phase 2” in the Charter of Trust’s work. Building on and continuing the work conducted over the past 3 years to translate the Charter’s 10 Principles into Baseline Requirements and guidance documents, this new phase will seek to drive the concrete adoption and implementation of these principles in real life, thus maximizing the Charter’s contribution to a global ecosystem of trust. This will include the development of new strategies, indicators, and tools that will, among others, seek to increase best practice exchange and create a true knowledge-sharing community between Charter of Trust members.

The Board of Directors agreed to come together again to review progress ahead of the Munich Security Conference of February 2021, where it will celebrate its third anniversary and intends to formally launch the new phase of its work.