Mr. Dudok, why did Airbus choose CISPA as a partner?
Airbus is a global pioneer in sustainable aerospace for a safe and united world, driving innovation to provide efficient and technologically-advanced solutions in aerospace, defence, and connected services. As a reliable partner for governments, institutions and companies in numerous industries, under our Airbus Defence and Space division we offer our customers new digital services to increase efficiency, generate valuable decision-making input and protect customer data.
High-end information security products and services are therefore of great importance to us, so it was natural to join forces with a leading research center in this field to ensure the continuous development of cutting-edge solutions to our customers' challenges in the long term.
We believe that the combination of solution-oriented, efficient product development capabilities on the one hand and deep, high-level research on the other can lead to solutions to cyber security issues that the world has not seen before. Moreover, with this collaboration CISPA and Airbus employees are sharing their passion and joining forces to make the world a better and safer place.
What do you think is the importance of cybersecurity in today's world?
In the face of a world that is still recovering from the pandemic, where the geopolitical situation is tense following the war in Ukraine, yet a world that is becoming more and more digitally connected at an exponentially increasing rate, and encompassing areas that have always demanded the highest levels of security and protection, the importance of cybersecurity is growing exorbitantly.
Cyber resilience has a strategic importance for us at Airbus Defence and Space, because we are committed to helping those who are committed to protecting peoples, nations and the environment, and to do so we offer them the ability to communicate on networks and platforms that are fast, reliable and secure against any attack.
What exactly will the collaboration between Airbus and CISPA look like?
After the signing of a Memorandum-of-Understanding in June, a long term cooperation has started to be built up step by step. The goal of this collaboration is to connect top-notch research with the current needs of our customers and society.
In this very first phase, working groups consisting of CISPA researchers and Airbus experts will be formed on three pilot research topics in the areas of "Embedded Systems", "Trusted Artificial Intelligence" and "Operations Technologies". These 15-20 participants are, metaphorically speaking, the first green plants that will have grown into a dense, strong forest in a few years.
The organizational framework for this "forest" will be what we call the "Digital Innovation Hub," which is expected to grow to 100 Airbus–employed IT specialists in St. Ingbert over the next three years. If we extend the time horizon to 2025 and the following years, we foresee up to 500 highly qualified jobs there.
The establishment of the Airbus-CISPA Digital Innovation Hub in St. Ingbert will create new jobs. Who will work there and what are they looking for?
At Airbus, we already have a very high demand for IT specialists, particularly in the areas of cyber security, who understand how to develop and protect highly complex, networked IT systems - for instance, in commercial aircraft, drones, but also in critical infrastructures of security authorities and emergency services against attacks. However, Airbus also needs specialists to defend existing legacy systems against disruptions without limiting the required system performance.
Typically, this is done by colleagues we call System Architects, DevSec Engineers, Splunk Specialists or Machine Learning Software Engineers, just to name a few examples. We are looking for IT graduates who are familiar with a "security-as-code" way of thinking, with log forwarding and endpoint protection, and who ideally already have experience with penetration tests.
What does this mean for the region?
In my opinion, the establishment of the Digital Innovation Hub in Saarland represents a fantastic opportunity and a major step in the ongoing transformation efforts.
Above all, for the transformation from a labour market that is currently still very heavily industrialized, in which many jobs are threatened, concrete measures are needed to create a new future oriented industry.
As a European company with global operations, we are pleased to be able to make a very tangible and concrete contribution to the future of this region in the heart of Europe by working hand in hand with CISPA and the Saarland government to establish the Digital Innovation Hub.
