ISA OT Cybersecurity Summit Hosted in Prague for 2026

July 1, 2026 — The International Society of Automation (ISA) just hosted its fourth annual ISA OT Cybersecurity Summit in Prague, Czechia on 16-18 June 2026 — and as usual, this event is the place for OT cybersecurity practitioners to learn, network and grow! 

Read on for a summary of what has quickly become the industry's leading event for industrial cybersecurity and technical content surrounding the ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards.

25 years of standardization for OT cybersecurity

ISA began working on cybersecurity standards in 2001 to provide much-needed security guidance for operational technology systems. It is remarkable to see how that dedication to making a difference has led to so many great things:

• The globally recognized standards series, ISA/IEC 62443,
• A full line up of training and certification offerings and
• The establishment of the ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance and the ISASecure® conformity assessment programs. 

Now, as we work to maintain, update and grow all of these initiatives, ISA must keep in line with the ever-changing challenges faced by this community. Regulatory efforts like the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) are top of our minds today, of course. We also must continue to consider the impact of global conflicts, compliance needs and, of course, what is coming next with AI and its impact on operational security posture.

2026 areas of focus: Threat intelligence, supply chain, industrial safety and cyber-physical security

The ISA OT Cybersecurity Summit featured two content tracks on threat intelligence and supply chain, as well as industrial safety and cyber-physical security, with a total of 312 attendees and 41 speakers across 31 sessions.

Day one kicked off with a powerhouse breakfast session, the Cyber Empowerment Forum (pictured above).

Led by moderator Megan Samford of Schneider Electric, panelists included Berta Jarošová, cyber attachée to the United States and Canada, Cheri Caddy of the Savannah River National Laboratory and Tatyana Bolton of Monument Advocacy. This panel unpacked real-world challenges at the intersection of IT and OT, including legacy systems, workforce upskilling and risk communication on the plant floor and in the boardroom.

Ms. Jarošová then took the stage as the day one keynote speaker, covering how Czechia (more widely known in English as the Czech Republic) collaborates with other nations to address growing cyber threats, particularly those targeting critical infrastructure. She also unpacked how cooperation will evolve in response to current challenges, including geopolitical tensions, rising cyberattacks and regulatory differences.

Day two began with another breakfast panel, From Compliance to Execution: Navigating NIS2 & the Cyber Resilience Act in Asset-Intensive Industries Forum. Moderator Steve Mustard of au2mation skillfully led the conversation, which included panelists Ilja David of Iron OT, Gustav Martin Bartel of Robert Bosch GmbH, Lukasz Kister of Honeywell and Petr Kopřiva of BDO Consulting. This group had a frank dialogue about organizational concerns surrounding compliance requirements for NIS2 and CRA: deadlines are approaching and the work is substantial. 

The day two keynote dove further into regulatory efforts in Europe and their impact on the operational threat environment, with an address by Mark Harbord, chief information security officer for the UK Parliament.

Day two closed with a panel discussing the Future of ISA Standards. Led by moderator Ashley Weckwerth, ISA president, the panel included SZ Lin of Sun Square, Scott Reynolds of Johns Manville and Karla Fontaine of Schneider Electric. 

Cybersecurity escape room

Where else can you find a virtual escape room specifically targeted to the training needs of OT cybersecurity and automation engineers? Available exclusively at the ISA OT Cybersecurity Summit for the third year running, an awesome escape room experience was programmed by the advanced visualizations team at Visco. Many attendees cited this experience as one of the highlights of the event.

ISAGCA and ISASecure highlights

ISA programs — the ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance (ISAGCA) and ISASecure — cosponsored this year's ISA OT Cybersecurity Summit to raise further awareness about their offerings for the operational technology cybersecurity community.

ISAGCA hosted a panel discussion on how industrial cybersecurity is a collective effort. 
Panelists described how collaboration across market boundaries is essential to ensure secure products and services, and ultimately secure industrial systems. 

ISASecure shared information about its new Automation and Control System Security Assurance (ACSSA) program to demonstrate operating site compliance with the international standard ISA/IEC 62443. Just one week earlier in Frankfurt, ISASecure hosted an in-person training session for ACSSA for Evaluators (IC49). ISASecure has also shared perspectives of individuals who have completed the IC49 training, which they described as "the logic that connects the standards" and "challenging but highly rewarding."

OT cybersecurity training

ISA offered its three most popular training courses as an add on for those interested in deepening their knowledge of the ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards:

• Using the ISA/IEC 62443 Standards to Secure Your Control Systems (IC32)
• Assessing the Cybersecurity of New and Existing IACS Systems (IC33) 
• IACS Cybersecurity Design & Implementation (IC34)

Exhibit

Eighteen sponsors and exhibitors joined the ISA OT Cybersecurity Summit in 2026. The exhibit floor was bustling, and I was excited to have the opportunity to walk the space and broadcast on Instagram Live both days of the event. 

ISA extends its thanks to all of the sponsors and exhibitors for their support, which has made this event possible. 

Attendee feedback

Positive feedback is always nice to hear, and attendees at the ISA OT Cybersecurity Summit had lots of kind words:

"There is an incredible wealth of knowledge in our space. ISA is in itself a collaboration of literally thousands of engineers all brought together in one place to shape and share best practices around the globe. What more can you ask for? Take that into account with now also the intensity and passion around cybersecurity and the focus on the activity, not just from one vendor or one company, but again, a global effort makes this an incredible opportunity and an incredible place to learn and share." -Matthew Bohne, VP and chief product security officer, Honeywell

"I thought the event was absolutely fantastic, not just from a technical standpoint, but from a networking standpoint. Every session that I was able to attend was so informative, and I was able to take away so much more than I knew before. And then from a networking perspective, it was completely invaluable. So as an overall summit — not to mention we're in Prague — it's one of the best by far that I've ever been to." -Brandon Holesovsky, channel partner manager, ABS Consulting

"At ISA events, I finally get to meet everyone in person. At the core of our hearts we are all engineers, we are all OT cyber security professionals, and that is what drives us. It's often not the company name or email address we currently use that matters: this is our profession. This is our tribe which we will belong to no matter the circumstances around us." -Betty Helienek, global digital lead, OT cybersecurity, WSP

ISA OT Cybersecurity Summit 2027 in Athens

Mark your calendars now — ISA OT Cybersecurity Summit is coming to Athens, Greece, in 2027! 

Athens' main maritime gateway, the Port of Piraeus, is the largest passenger port in Europe and the fifth largest container port. While industrial cybersecurity in the plant and utility sector will always be fundamental to the ISA OT Cybersecurity Summit, maritime cybersecurity is a very fast-rising area of need. ISA is proud to be able to present technical programming that will address how to implement the ISA/IEC 62443 standards across all of these different critical infrastructure sectors. 

I hope you will plan to join us next year in Athens. Save the date for 16-17 June 2027 and check back at otcs.isa.org for more details coming soon.