More than 150 representatives from politics, science and industry as well as from NATO, the German Armed Forces and authorities and organizations with security tasks took part in the event. Among the guests were Major General Armin Fleischmann, Head of the CIR and Digitization Planning Department of the German Armed Forces in the Cyber and Information Space Command, and Saxony's Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow, who opened the event.

With around 650 employees, the Fraunhofer FKIE is one of the leading institutes for defense and security research in Germany. For more than 60 years, the institute has been working internationally on research, technology and innovation projects together with the German Armed Forces, NATO and the security and defense industry. The institute covers all domains of national defense - on land, at sea, in the air, under water, in cyberspace and in space. The aim is to develop technologies to identify existentially threatening risks at an early stage, minimize them and make them manageable.

This year, 15 employees will already be working at the new location in Leipzig.

Pooling expertise with the industry

"Security and defense research is a top priority for Fraunhofer. With our interdisciplinary expertise and application-oriented research, we specifically strengthen the technological sovereignty of Germany and Europe, contribute to building a resilient security architecture and develop innovative solutions to effectively counter current and future threats," says Holger Hanselka, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

"Currently of particular importance: cyber attacks, disinformation or sabotage affect our society in a temporally and spatially distributed manner. Especially due to the increasing hybrid warfare, it is immanently important in defense research that solutions are quickly transferred from the laboratory to application. At the new Fraunhofer FKIE site, we are pooling our expertise in software-defined defense, cyber security and resilience and developing user-oriented technologies together with industry in order to identify such complex threats at an early stage and be able to act quickly."

With a focus on "Software Defined Defense" and "Cybersecurity and Resilience", the Fraunhofer FKIE in Leipzig focuses on key future topics in security and defense research.

Strengthening innovative strength in Saxony

"There is great potential in the innovative power of Saxon research in technology development and methodology," says Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow. "This potential must also be available for Germany's security and defense. With the Fraunhofer FKIE and the research network 'Innovation in Integrated Security and Sustainability' (I2SN), Saxony has now created the conditions for this. I am convinced that we are making a decisive contribution to greater security and more industrial value creation in the future."

The institute is also involved in Central and Eastern Germany in the "Cyber Security Learning Lab" for digital forensics at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences and with a "Joint Research & Testing Lab" for transfer and innovation in land-based operations in Löbau, which is currently being set up.

Prof. Dr. habil. Christoph Igel, Deputy Director of the Fraunhofer FKIE and responsible for activities in Central and Eastern Germany: "As a defense institute, we have been firmly at the side of the Bundeswehr and the security authorities for decades. With our new activities in Central and Eastern Germany, we are strengthening the transfer to regional industry and business and preparing the ground for new innovation in the Free State of Saxony. Acting close to industry and delivering quickly applicable solutions for defense and security needs is part of our DNA as an institute of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft."

New research network launched

The conference was also the kick-off event for the new research network "Innovation in Integrated Security and Sustainability" (I2SN). The network is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the Saxon Ministry of Science, Culture and Tourism.

In future, a total of 18 institutes and professorships in the Free State of Saxony will conduct research into the requirements of external, internal and civil security in the fields of cyber/IT, energy and materials. Together with industrial partners, new innovations are to be developed. The Fraunhofer FKIE is responsible for the "Cyber/IT" topic area within the network. Christoph Igel also takes on the role of network spokesperson.