WASHINGTON, July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI) launches today to enable the private sector to better address cybersecurity risk management across value chains, with a particular emphasis on support for small and medium-sized enterprises. The Institute is a joint initiative by two nonprofit and nonpartisan organizations, The Center for Global Enterprise (CGE) and the Center for Responsible Enterprise And Trade (CREATe.org). Co-chairs are: Samuel J. Palmisano, Retired Chairman and CEO, IBM Corporation, and Current Chairman, The Center for Global Enterprise (CGE); Ajay Banga, President and CEO, Mastercard; Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft; and Penny Pritzker, Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Chairman of PSP Capital Partners. 

The Cyber Readiness Institute will convene senior leaders of global companies from across sectors to capture best practices for managing the people, processes, and technology needed for effective cybersecurity. This collective knowledge will inform the Cyber Readiness Institute's development of cyber risk management content and tools designed to help secure global value chains. The Institute's work will emphasize the practical application of these tools for small and medium-sized businesses and the workforce requirements for effective implementation.

In the coming months, the Cyber Readiness Institute will recruit additional CEOs, their company's subject matter experts, and representatives from their value chain to participate in sessions to identify and select the most pressing cybersecurity risk management priorities. This process will begin by assessing private sector recommendations contained in the December 2016 report from the President's Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity ("Commission Report"). 

"Cybersecurity risks are rapidly growing because of the proliferation of interdependencies in our global digital economy," stated Kiersten Todt, Managing Director of the Cyber Readiness Institute and former Executive Director of the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. "The Cyber Readiness Institute will share best practices across sectors to develop content and tools for improving the cybersecurity risk management of enterprises and their value chain partners." 

Quotes from the Cyber Readiness Institute Co-Chairs:

Samuel J. Palmisano, Retired Chairman and CEO, IBM Corporation, and Current Chairman, The Center for Global Enterprise (CGE): "Our goal with the Cyber Readiness Institute is to foster more proactive involvement of the private sector in the development and promotion of global management best practices for cybersecurity."

Ajay Banga, President and CEO, Mastercard: "Cyber threats are increasingly opportunistic and targeted at a broad range of companies with varying capabilities to manage these risks. Helping all companies to adopt best practices in cybersecurity – and in particular small and medium-sized businesses - will go a long way toward building resiliency across the value chain."   

Brad Smith, President, Microsoft: "No company is an island. It's clear that effective cybersecurity requires us to reach outside our own companies and work closely with our network of partners, customers, and suppliers. The Cyber Readiness Institute will help accelerate learning and best practice sharing across businesses large and small."

Penny Pritzker, Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Current Chairman, PSP Capital Partners: "In today's dynamic cyber threat environment, it is essential to ensure that cyber risk management skills are embedded in every organization. The work of the Cyber Readiness Institute will help better inform and educate our workforce about ways to mitigate cyber risks to help secure businesses and the broader digital economy.  

The Cyber Readiness Institute is a joint initiative by The Center for Global Enterprise (www.thecge.net) and the Center for Responsible Enterprise And Trade (www.CREATe.org).

For more information visit: www.CyberReadinessInstitute.org or email info@cyberreadinessinstitute.org

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https://www.cyberreadinessinstitute.org

SOURCE The Center for Global Enterprise