Koen Gijsbers is Associate Partner at Hague Corporate Affairs. With decades of experience in cybersecurity, digitalisation, and defence, he assists our clients in strategically positioning themselves in The Hague and to NATO.
After a distinguished military career that included commanding the 11 Air Assault Brigade, Major General (Retd) Koen Gijsbers became Netherlands’ first ‘cyber general’. Koen was at the helm of digital transformation at the Dutch Ministry of Defence as one of the first Chief Information Officers (CIO). He also held various leadership roles within NATO, including Director-General of the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), where he and his team were responsible for developing, deploying, maintaining, and defending all Information Technology for the alliance.
After his public career, Koen gained significant experience in the private sector, working for various Boards of Directors on strategic positioning regarding cybersecurity and digital innovation. He also assists commissioners and supervisors in better understanding these topics in their practice.
During his career, he experienced how collaboration between governments and business on digital transformation could be enhanced. Koen: “Both worlds sometimes do not understand each other sufficiently. The private sector has a lot of knowledge and expertise in IT and digital resilience. They also invest a lot in much-needed innovation. Optimising those capabilities for government needs is a difficult process. I want to use my experience and knowledge of both worlds to further strengthen collaboration between the two parties”.
