IT-Security Jun 03, 2019

Cybersecurity: Bavaria is helping shape the EU Security Union

The EU is starting to set up a European network for cybersecurity with four pilot projects. At the heart of this development: Bavaria with the CONCORDIA project. The Bundeswehr University Munich is playing a leading role in this project with its CODE research institute, as are the major corporations Siemens and BMW.

As the digital transformation progresses, cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important. This applies both internationally and nationally. This is why the European Union has launched an initiative to promote the topic as a joint project with all EU member states. The idea is to pool expertise and at the same time develop nationwide solutions that benefit states and industry alike. The EU is now investing 63.5 million euros in four pilot projects to set up a network of cybersecurity centres.

The European Union selected Bavaria as the location for one of these projects. CONCORDIA is the abbreviation for "Cyber Security Competence for Research and Innovation". The programme coordinator is the Bundeswehr University Munich, other participants include the major Bavarian corporations Siemens and BMW. "We are counting on CONCORDIA and the other pilot projects. They will support the EU in defining, testing and establishing the governance model for a European cybersecurity competence network of cybersecurity centres," hopes Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society.
 

CONCORDIA is a four-year multidisciplinary research and innovation project that is taking the European Security Union into the future. The focus is on issues of digital sovereignty, such as data security or the digital economy. Protection against cyber attacks is to be improved by developing innovative solutions and at the same time a Europe-wide education system for cybersecurity is to be established that pools talents and abilities.

The fact that Bavaria can play a leading role in this is partly due to the fact that Munich has an internationally outstanding research location in the form of the Bundeswehr University: the university networks experts for cybersecurity from research, military, business, industry, authorities and associations at the CODE Institute. "CODE is therefore a unique interdepartmental cybercluster which pools knowledge and skills and promotes mutual exchange," say those responsible, who are now conducting research on a level of excellence for the EU.

Not forgetting the excellent infrastructure that Bavaria has also built up over the past few years in the field of cybersecurity. For example, with its Information Security Hub, Munich Airport has a training ground where internal and external cyber professionals can simulate various attack scenarios. Similarly groundbreaking is the cybersecurity themed platform at the Zentrum Digitalisierung.Bayern, which links researchers, users and technology providers as well as existing initiatives in Bavaria and throughout Germany.

Added to this, there is a broad range of trade fairs and conferences, which attract international experts on the subject of cybersecurity to Bavaria year after year:

  • it-sa: Europe's leading trade fair for IT security in Nuremberg
  • CommandControl-Summit: Leading conference in the cybersecurity sector in Munich
  • Munich Cyber Security Conference: Annual event held one day before the internationally renowned Munich Security Conference
  • Information Security Hub Conference: New Information Security Hub conference at Munich Airport Tech Days
  • Tech Days Munich: Innovative start-ups, globally successful corporations and medium-sized companies, experienced researchers and creative people meet under the motto "Digital Innovation” at the international Technology Festival in Munich – the next time on 3 June 2019


Other interesting topics are the Bundeswehr University Munich’s CODE Annual Conference and the BSidesMunich computer security event. These Europe-wide initiatives and events make Bavaria one of the world's cybersecurity epicentres.

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