In Breda, the theme of Digitisation has gained more and more (policy) focus in recent years. For example, the Masterplan Bredata has been drawn up, aimed at Digitisation and the development of a smart city. The goal is to contribute to the liveability of Breda and to make the city excel in the field of digital possibilities by 2030, with a top-of-the-line digital infrastructure. The plan proposes Digitisation as a catalyst for connecting infrastructures, residents and visitors, further strengthening Breda’s strengths. The municipality emphasises the important aspects of Digitisation – such as security, privacy and humanity – and puts the quality of life of its residents first.
In the context of security, the Breda city region is also highly committed to digital resilience. That is why the region is involved with two initiativesin the City Deal “Local Resilience Cybercrime”, in which Breda collaborates on new solutions to increase the cyber resilience of companies in a world in which cybercrime continues to increase. Digitaal Weerbaar Breda has a strong relationship with this city deal.
In addition to the more policy-based programmes, there are numerous (smaller) initiatives that contribute to the digital resilience of the city region. For example, the Gastveilig Hazeldonk project at the Hazeldonk business park is experimenting with applied digital technologies to increase (digital) security.
There are also initiatives at regional level within the same domain. The Platform veilig Ondernemen (Zeeland West – Brabant) organises, among other things, information meetings, training courses and thematic meetings in the field of cybercrime. In addition, there are connections with other city regions and their initiatives that deal with the same problems, for example with the Cyber Resilience Centre Brainport. And finally, Digital Resilient Breda started in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic led to concerns about the cyber security of the local Amphia hospital. After all, a breach of its systems would have a major impact on society. Several essential organizations for the region have joined forces and together formed Digital Resilient Breda.