The Federal Government today decided to create an Agency for Innovation in Cybersecurity to fund and support ambitious and highly innovative research and development projects in the field of cybersecurity. By supporting research projects on key technologies for internal and external security, the Federal Government wants to ensure that Germany continues to be an attractive base for security technology.

The agency will focus on funding even risky research projects and innovations. It will invest in emerging, potentially disruptive cybersecurity technologies and support innovators for a limited time but with substantial resources. As an in-house company, it will be fully owned by the Federal Republic of Germany and jointly managed by the Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (BMI).

Support for research projects

Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer said: "With the agency, Germany will take the lead or a leading position in the international cybersecurity community." Federal Minister of Defence Ursula von der Leyen added that in the digital world, the government has to offer protection and take responsibility. Federal Minister Seehofer added: "The Federal Government can no longer sit by and watch when highly sensitive IT with relevance for security in Germany is controlled by countries outside the European Union."

Supporting basic scientific research as well, the new cyber agency will complement the defence ministry’s Cyber Innovation Hub (CIH) and the interior ministry’s Central Office for Information Technology in the Security Sector (ZITiS).