Speech by Prime Minister Dick Schoof at the opening of the ONE Conference, The Hague, 30 September 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,
I too would like to welcome you all to the Netherlands – and to The Hague.
As you may know, my own professional background is in the security domain.
For example, I was head of the Dutch General Security and Intelligence Service.
So it was important to me to be here, even briefly.
Because your work, and this annual conference in the wonderful city of The Hague, are not only crucial, but also fascinating.
And so I didn’t want to miss this chance to say a few words to you today.
The last time I stood here was a few months ago, when The Hague – and this venue – hosted the successful NATO Summit.
I’m sure you saw the news coverage.
Back then too, the focus was on cybersecurity.
Not only in the organisation of the Summit, for which we needed – and achieved – extremely good protection against cyberattacks.
But also on the Summit’s agenda.
Cybersecurity was a big topic, because the military conflicts of the future will not be fought on the battlefield alone.
More and more, state actors are active the digital theatre of operations.
And not always with the best of intentions.
Awareness of this threat is growing, even among people who aren’t military or security specialists.
The war in Ukraine has been a wake-up call in that regard.
In the Netherlands recently, we’ve seen cyberattacks on the systems of our Public Prosecution Service.
And the medical data of hundreds of thousands of people was stolen by hackers.
So cybersecurity is by no means ‘under the radar’ any longer.
It’s now become visible and concrete in everyday life.
More and more people are realising that digital processes have become the central nervous system of our society.
They are realising that the water from our taps, the electricity from our power sockets, the availability of the internet and the integrity of our elections are not things we can take for granted.
It’s unfortunate that this awareness is necessary, but it’s a good thing that it’s growing.
Because you, as cyber specialists, can create the conditions for a resilient society.
But it’s up to society as a whole to actually become resilient.
I think that’s the first key message this conference can share with the outside world.
A second point I’d like to make at the start of this conference concerns the concept of ‘strategic autonomy’.
It’s no accident that we’re hearing this term more and more these days.
Strategic autonomy isn’t just about oil or raw materials.
It also concerns our digital security.
The fact is: in our part of the world, we depend on international, non-European suppliers for many of our digital needs.
And with so many geopolitical developments unfolding, that dependency is – or could become – risky.
That means cybersecurity is not just a topic for technical experts or organisational specialists.
Not something you can just hire a few people to deal with.
Geopolitics and its influence on cybersecurity should be a top priority in the boardroom too.
In other words: now that the awareness is there, it’s time to take action.
It’s time to take measures so that cyber risks can be much better managed.
And you can play a key role by convincing leaders and managers of the urgency.
And by providing them with concrete proposals.
That is what I ask of you.
Ladies and gentlemen,
There’s an old saying that goes: ‘The way to be safe is never to be secure.’
As you know better than anyone, today those words are still as true as ever.
Perhaps truer than ever.
Security is a job that’s never done.
And in today’s digital world, anyone who is complacent will soon be overtaken by the rapid pace of new developments.
That is what you, the community of experts, will be discussing among yourselves in the coming days.
And I hope that afterwards you’ll discuss it with the non-experts at home too.
I wish you all a successful conference.
Thank you.