On March 26, Tirana will become a meeting point for decision-makers operating on the front lines of digital transformation. Novus, in partnership with Cisco, is hosting an event that aims to move beyond standard rhetoric, placing real-world cybersecurity challenges and regulatory compliance in the financial sector at the center of discussion.
The event will take place at the Rogner Hotel Tirana from 10:00 to 14:00, bringing together experts, regulators, and industry leaders. Its goal is to deliver practical insights and open discussions on the most critical challenges financial institutions face today.
The event will open with remarks from Novus CEO, Leonora Mehmetaj Hajdini, followed by a discussion with regulators: Eris Sharxhi from the Bank of Albania and Elvin Mala, a representative overseeing IT systems supervision in financial institutions.
“Cybersecurity in the financial sector is no longer just an IT topic—it is a management priority. This event brings together regulators and professionals to move from compliance on paper to resilience in practice,” she stated.
The agenda includes a series of presentations focused on cyber resilience and the practical implementation of security systems. Agnesa Sylejmani, Senior Cybersecurity Expert at Novus, will present on Governance, Risk & Compliance frameworks and their role in protecting financial institutions.
Following this, Goce Dojcinovski and Sergey Kozhevnikov from Cisco will demonstrate how to build a ‘Zero Trust’ architecture, covering everything from network control to identity protection, with real-world examples including data center security and phishing defense.
Pleurat Halili, CEO of Novus Albania, emphasized the importance of the event:
“Firewalls and WAFs don’t protect you—people, policies, and proper configuration do. The financial sector must stop treating cybersecurity as an IT budget line and start treating it as an organizational discipline.”
The event will also feature two focused panel discussions addressing cyber resilience and information protection in the financial sector, as well as privacy and regulatory frameworks in the age of Artificial Intelligence. Panelists include representatives from Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Germany, including banking executives, national security authorities, data protection experts, and fintech leaders.
This gathering is highly relevant for professionals operating at the intersection of finance, technology, and regulation, offering practical knowledge on threat management, system strengthening, and the implementation of the highest cybersecurity standards.
For one day, Tirana will become the epicenter of discussions on the future of secure and resilient finance in the region.
For Albania and the region, this is not a theoretical topic. Integration into global financial networks, the growing use of digital systems, and exposure to increasingly sophisticated threats are creating new pressure on institutions. The lack of advanced capabilities, the need to comply with international standards, and risks to personal data make this discussion urgent.
In this context, the event aims not only to inform but to influence how systems are built, risks are managed, and customer trust is earned in an increasingly exposed digital economy.
The discussions and practices presented at this event can help financial institutions in Albania and the region build stronger security frameworks, improve transparency, and enhance customer trust in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
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