In December 2022, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), through its Information and Cybersecurity Research Centre, was inducted into the Charter of Trust (CoT) as an Associated Partner. The CSIR is the first organisation in Africa to be admitted into the CoT’s Associated Partner Forum (APF). The CSIR was nominated into the CoT by Siemens AG. The nomination was followed by the CSIR giving presentations to the CoT Management Forum and, ultimately, the unanimous approval of the CSIR’s nomination.  

The CSIR was formally introduced to the wider CoT membership at the APF meeting held on Friday, 17 February 2023 during the Munich Security conference in Munich, Germany.

The CSIR will benefit from being part of the CoT through knowledge-sharing, collaborations and cyber intelligence-sharing with global players and be in a position to exploit the 10 principles of the CoT to advance cybersecurity capabilities in South Africa and Africa. The CoT principles are ownership of cyber and information technology security, responsibility throughout the digital supply chain, security by default, user-centricity, innovation and co-creation, education, cyber resilience through conformity and certification, transparency and response, regulatory framework, and joint initiatives.

The CSIR will contribute to the CoT through participating in and/or leading international research studies on cybersecurity, localising cyber initiatives, participating in global forums where cybersecurity lessons with other global partners are shared, and publishing use cases dealing with some of the CoT principles, among others.

The CoT sets out to give cybersecurity a central place in business operations, and its members represent a broad range of sectors in information and communication technologies, defence, aviation, the automotive industry, energy, and others. Some of the notable partners of the CoT include Airbus, Atos, IBM, Dell, Bosch, Allianz, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, Siemens AG and Total Energies.

The CoT is a non-profit alliance of leading global companies and organisations from various sectors that work together to build trust and make the digital world of tomorrow a safer place. It strives to share expertise and intelligence to protect the data of individuals and companies; prevent damage to people, companies and infrastructure; and create a reliable foundation on which confidence in a networked, digital world can take root and grow.

For more information, visit https://www.charteroftrust.com/about/

Contact: Dr Jabu Mtsweni at JMtsweni@csir.co.za  or Dr Zubeida Dawood at ZDawood@csir.co.za