Jul 5 2016
WISeKey International Holding Ltd, a leading Swiss-based cybersecurity company, today announced its participation in Microsoft CityNext, a global initiative empowering cities, businesses and citizens to re-imagine their futures and cultivate vibrant communities.
Through the Microsoft CityNext initiative, Microsoft and WISeKey will help leaders to do “new with less,” by combining the power of technology with innovative ideas to securely connect governments, businesses and citizens with city services that increase efficiencies, reduce costs, foster a more sustainable environment and cultivate communities where people thrive.
WISeKey’s identity management and innovative cybersecurity solution for IOT will provide smart cities with a scalable, easily manageable object identity management and security solution when connecting to Microsoft Azure and other Microsoft-based platforms. The Managed WISeKey Root of Trust (RoT) serves as a common trust anchor, which is recognized by operating systems (OS) and applications to ensure the authenticity, confidentiality and integrity of on-line transactions. With the Cryptographic RoT embedded on a device, provided by WISeKey as a hardware Secure Element or a software Certificate, the IoT product manufacturers can protect the devices and secure the interactions among and between objects and people.
“Government employees and City infrastructure from traffic lights and smart parking solutions, to power grids and smart utility meters, are vulnerable to cyberattacks,” said Carlos Moreira, WISeKey’s CEO. “We view Microsoft’s CityNext initiative as an innovative force that will help to transform government infrastructure and we are pleased to have already collaborated with Microsoft on government and city cybersecurity projects in various countries around the globe.”
Cities have long been the center of industrial, economic and entrepreneurial activity fueling the rest of the world’s success. Today, as more of the world’s population urbanizes, they face mounting pressures and challenges to maintain that standard and quality of life for citizens. It is expected that by 2030, six out of every ten people will live in a city. Leveraging a broad portfolio of familiar and security-enhanced consumer-to-business software, partner solutions, devices and services and Microsoft’s history of successful education and social programs, Microsoft CityNext is a collective effort that helps cities anticipate and plan for these changes and challenges, enabling them to meet citizens’ needs, thrive economically and embrace modernity.
“We’re thrilled to partner with WISeKey on Microsoft CityNext. Microsoft prioritizes a people- and partner-first approach across all our initiatives, and Microsoft CityNext is no different,” said Per Bendix Olsen, Microsoft Worldwide Public Sector. “While cities are feeling the strain from economic challenges, Microsoft CityNext ushers in innovative technology solutions to create opportunities for cities and their citizens, enabling them to accomplish what they never thought possible. We’re inspired by our diverse partner ecosystem and know that working together we can help cities realize their full potential.”
Source: https://www.wisekey.com/