(August 25, 2015 / Atlanta, GA) Baker Donelson recently concluded its Cybersecurity Forum with Israel and the American South, its first forum in a series of global initiatives aimed at bolstering trade and investment opportunities between foreign countries and the American South. The Cybersecurity Forum provided attendees with thought leadership from lawmakers, regulators, business leaders, investors and researchers from Israel, Washington D.C. and the American South on the current state of cybersecurity and its impact on technology, advanced manufacturing, logistics, health care and energy. Over the two-day event, approximately 150 attendees, including more than 30 representatives from U.S. and Israeli businesses, government and academic institutions, gathered to discuss cybersecurity issues.
Day one saw an agenda centered on cybersecurity from a U.S. and Israeli perspective, with a focus on national security, the latest cyber threats and what cyber legislation means for businesses. Israeli cybersecurity companies, including ICS2, Waterfall Security Solutions, ThetaRay, Radware and Radiflow, also had the chance to pitch their products and services to the forum attendees. Day two's focus shifted to collaboration across governmental, academic and regulatory infrastructure to promote greater security measures across the workforce and growing industries.
"The amount of engagement and participation from every attendee at the Cybersecurity Forum was amazing, not only during the sessions but with each other," says Justin Daniels, shareholder at Baker Donelson and Atlanta office leader of the Emerging Companies Group and Global Business Team. "Our purpose was to provide Israel and the American South with the opportunity to share their economic success with each other and foster true partnership. This forum achieved that."
A digital survey regarding cybersecurity technology was issued to the attendees during the event. Results showed that more than half of the attendees are spending more than $100,000 per year on cybersecurity technology and 81% plan to increase their spending on cybersecurity technology next year.
For more news and information surrounding cybersecurity in Israel and the American South, visit www.cybercon.us.
Baker Donelson will continue the momentum created by this event with the launch of the Baker Donelson Innovation Institute (BDI²) in Atlanta, an accelerator whose sole focus is accelerating the growth of emerging domestic and international cybersecurity companies within the Atlanta cybersecurity ecosystem. The Baker Donelson Innovation Institute will run programs of six to 12 months. The program will provide assistance with business planning, go to market strategy, customer identification, networking with investors and office space.
Baker Donelson's Global Initiatives is a series of forums and dialogue programs aimed at bolstering trade and investment opportunities between foreign countries and the American South. The Global Initiatives facilitate collaboration between policymakers and business leaders across the U.S.'s fastest growing economic region.
The first Global Initiative, Israel and the American South, is designed to strengthen ties between Israel and seven Southern U.S. states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Presented by Baker Donelson in partnership with the Government of Israel, the Israel and American South Initiative will focus on collaboration in industry sectors such as technology, energy, advanced manufacturing, health care and logistics, and will address challenges in trade and investment policy as well as technological innovation and disruption.