You Can View Coronavirus Economy as an Opportunity for Germany, Says Otorio CEO

The coronavirus economy could be viewed as an opportunity for Germany, according to

Brig. Gen. (res.) Daniel Bern, co-founder and CEO of Israeli cybersecurity company Otorio Ltd. Bern spoke Thursday at Calcalist's WeTech Berlin 2020 conference, held in collaboration with Israel's Bank Leumi and German real estate company Aroundtown Property Holdings PLC.

Germany is the fourth-largest economy and a third of it is based on traditional industries, so this is an excellent opportunity to redirect some of the Chinese production back to the German market and gain back global leadership, Bern said.

In his last military role, Bern served as chief cyber defense officer and chief information officer of the Israeli army. Founded in 2018, Tel Aviv-headquartered Otorio develops a dedicated cyber platform for the manufacturing industry. In practice, it manages a factory's defense system from end to end, including risk assessment, strategy implementation, and risk management tools.

Automation platforms are the future of industry, Bern said. However, when a sector becomes digitized it increases risks. Industrial companies, for example, are an easy target for cybercrimes. But every change poses risks and without change you become obsolete, he said.