Kiwa and Siemens BeLux Announce Strategic Partnership to Strengthen Industrial Cybersecurity and Industrial Resilience

The partnership combines Kiwa’s experience in testing, inspection, certification, conformity assessment, and compliance with Siemens’ expertise in industrial digitalization and Operational Technology (OT) cybersecurity.

Together, the organizations will support companies across manufacturing and process industries, including machine builders and system integrators, as they support customers in the growing complexity of digital transformation, industrial cybersecurity, and new European legislation.

Supporting secure industrial digitalization together

As OT continues to digitalize, organizations are under growing pressure to balance innovation with cybersecurity, functional safety, data protection, and compliance. At the same time, the convergence of OT and IT and the increasing connection between physical and digital industrial environments are accelerating this shift.

Through this partnership, Kiwa and Siemens BeLux aim to support organizations with an integrated approach that combines technical expertise with standards, training, implementation, independent assessment, and certification.

Kiwa brings expertise in testing, inspection, and certification, with specific expertise in areas including the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), ISO 27001, IEC/ISA 62443, RED-DA, AI certification, functional safety, and conformity assessment. 

In Belgium and Luxembourg, Kiwa operates through Vinçotte, bringing strong local expertise in industrial inspection, certification, and OT-related services.

Siemens BeLux contributes more than four decades of experience in securing industrial installations, including domain-specific cyber architectures, supported OT hardware and software, training and implementation services, and guidance for increasing cybersecurity maturity.

Supporting customers from design to certification

Both partners aim to support customers throughout the full lifecycle of industrial digitalization, from consultancy, design, and security architecture for industrial installations, machines, and OT environments to implementation, training, inspection, conformity assessment, and certification.

“With this partnership, we want to help industrial players, machine builders, and system integrators turn the increasing complexity of digital security, functional safety, and regulation into a clear and achievable pathway,” says Thierry Van Eeckhout, Senior Vice President, Siemens Digital Industries Belgium-Luxembourg (BeLux). “By combining our industrial and digital expertise with the certification, inspection, and compliance knowledge of Kiwa, we offer customers a strong total solution that responds to their current needs and prepares them for future requirements. In this way, we want to support industrial organizations with a digital transformation that is not only innovative, but also secure, compliant, and future-proof.”

As part of the partnership, Kiwa and Siemens BeLux are developing joint trajectories that will guide customers towards greater cyber resilience, compliance, safety, and operational continuity. One important focus area is supporting machine builders that want to integrate OT cybersecurity, security by design, and compliance into product development from the outset. End-to-end trajectories for industrial players and system integrators are also a key focus area.

For Kiwa, the collaboration aligns with the Kiwa Trust in Digital Partner Program, through which Kiwa works with partners to share knowledge and best practices related to cybersecurity, data protection, artificial intelligence, and the link with functional safety.

Customers will gain access to a combined selection of Kiwa and Siemens training programs and services, while Kiwa will continue to operate independently for accredited certification and conformity assessments.

Supporting compliance with new European regulations

Organizations across Europe are facing new European regulations related to cybersecurity, digital products, artificial intelligence, and data usage. In industrial environments, regulations such as NIS2, the Cyber Resilience Act, RED-DA, and the AI Act are creating additional challenges. Kiwa and Siemens BeLux aim to help customers translate these into practical design choices, implementation strategies, training, assessments, and certification pathways.

The collaboration also highlights the connection between OT cybersecurity and functional safety. In industrial environments, digital risks can directly impact the safety of people, the environment, and operational integrity.

The partnership additionally offers added value for export-oriented customers, as both organizations can provide international guidance in markets with different standards, expectations, and certification requirements.

“We offer an integrated one-stop shop, without compromising our independent role as a certification body,” says Ilse Vanderlocht, Managing Director Belgium, France and Luxembourg at Kiwa. “Today, industry is not only looking for technological solutions, but also certainty, trust, and a clear way forward. Thanks to this collaboration, we can guide customers even better with a complementary offering that connects to the reality of industrial digitalization, OT cybersecurity, functional safety, and new European requirements.”

Meeting growing cybersecurity requirements across the supply chain

The partnership will also help customers respond to growing Security-on-Demand requirements from the industry. These sector-specific and company-specific cybersecurity requirements are increasingly being applied throughout industrial supply chains, including towards machine builders. The ability to comply with Security-on-Demand requirements is expected to determine competitiveness and access to certain market segments increasingly.

Siemens applies a layered model called “Defense-in-Depth” that enables technological developments to be integrated securely throughout the lifecycle of industrial installations and machines.

“Our experience shows that an ecosystem approach offers the best guarantee for successful implementation,” says Jurgen De Wever, OT2IT Strategic Alliances, Siemens Digital Industries België-Luxemburg. “This applies both to the setup itself and to management throughout the full lifecycle of installations and machines. In this way, we guarantee industrial cybersecurity and resilience from product to practice.”

Supporting customers through knowledge-sharing 

Kiwa and Siemens BeLux will also focus on knowledge-sharing through webinars, conferences, blogs, speaking engagements, and trade fairs, helping strengthen awareness around OT cybersecurity, functional safety, and digital reliability across the industrial sector.

Patrick Coomans sees the partnership as an important step for the future of industrial cybersecurity:

“By combining our expertise in cybersecurity and digital trust, we can help customers digitize and innovate with confidence, while providing and upholding trust in their digital operations for customers, partners, banks, investors, and other stakeholders.”