News
New theme Safety at Dutch Blockchain Coalition lead by Dr Mark van Staalduinen
The Hague, 18 July 2022 – Dutch Blockchain Coalition (DBC) has rolled out a new theme Safety and appointed Dr Mark van Staalduinen as theme-lead. The theme was launched during the DBC Conference on June 28 during the break-out session on Safety.
Blockchain and related distributed cryptographic technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for innovations that are relevant to our society, businesses and governments. At the same time, new technologies bring new and unknown risks, which must be dealt with wisely. A safe and secure society in the current information era requires intrinsically secure and trusted digital technology, in which innovation is given space and risks are manageable. To this end, we need checks and balances to ensure our rapidly digitizing society and economy stay reliable and resilient.
Dr Mark van Staalduinen: “I look forward to bringing public and private stakeholders together to support a safe and reliable blockchain ecosystem for the Netherlands. The more reliable and secure the infrastructure, the sooner organizations can move to large-scale blockchain applications and the Dutch society and the economy can enjoy the benefits. Because security and reliability encompass different functional areas, ranging from criminological expertise to in-depth technological knowledge, my experience in the public and private sectors provides me with diverse perspectives needed to collaborate strategically in this triple helix setup.”
The importance of Blockchain and Safety is underlined by the swiftness of technological advancements and prevalence of security incidents. This role guides working group efforts to foster:
(a) a safe and secure blockchain ecosystem by proposing security measures and tackling abuse and fraud; and
(b) a trusted and reliable cyberspace by harnessing blockchain and distributed cryptographic opportunities.
“Responsible technology requires security measures that are the result of focused and concerted efforts that cannot be achieved overnight. We are pleased that Mark van Staalduinen has accepted the role of Safety theme-lead for the Dutch ecosystem. Given the widespread misuse of cyber technologies by cybercriminals for their purposes, public-private partnership in blockchain technology is key to achieving a safe and trusted cyberspace,” said Peter Verkoulen, coalition manager of DBC.
The basis for the theme Safety stems from a series of roundtable discussions between Singapore and the Netherlands, organized by the Partners for International Business (PIB) – a program launched during the COVID-19 pandemic aimed at identifying and sharing good practices of multi-stakeholder challenges related to blockchain. The virtual roundtables were organized in collaboration with, among others, the Ministry of Justice and Security, ABN AMRO Bank, TNO, Security Delta (HSD) and CFLW Cyber Strategies as well as partners from Singapore.
Dr Mark van Staalduinen has more than ten years of experience in international law enforcement and cybersecurity at TNO and INTERPOL. Concurrently to theme-lead Safety, Mark van Staalduinen is managing director of CFLW Cyber Strategies, which has recently joined the Dutch Blockchain Coalition as a new partner. This Dutch company has an international reach and vision to develop open-source intelligence (OSINT) solutions for a safer cyberspace.