The European Commission has announced that it will allocate €910 million to strengthen European defence through research, development and innovation activities, of which €60 million will be used to fund the CITADEL Range (Cyber Infrastructure for Training in Advanced Defence Exercises and Learning) project, which promotes European cybersecurity. Jamk is the only Finnish participant in this giant project, which involves 38 other organizations from across Europe.
"The project involves some of the largest players in the defence and security industry in Europe, and it is an honour to represent Finland in such a significant effort to develop European cyber security exercising expertise. In particular, the development of European joint capabilities is extremely important in the current international situation. At the same time, national competence and performance will also improve", says Tero Kokkonen, Director of Jamk's Institute of Information Technology.
The project aims to develop cyber ranges that will be used by European actors for the training, testing, and exercising of capabilities in cyber security and defence.
The RGCE (Realistic Global Cyber Environment) cyber exercise environment of the JYVSECTEC (Jyväskylä Security Technology) research, development and training centre, located at Jamk's Institute of Information Technology, will be one of the environments that can be utilised and developed in the CITADEL Range project.
"In Finland, the RGCE exercise environment is actively used, for example, in national cyber exercises and similar exercises in sectors critical to security of supply. The expertise and development generated in the project will thus also benefit a large number of Finnish cyber security operators", says Jarno Lötjönen, Chief Specialist and Business Manager at Jamk's Institute of Information Technology.
"The project will enable the development and utilisation of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, on a broader scale in JYVSECTEC's RGCE environment. In addition, it enables learning and the sharing of expertise between European actors", says Marko Vatanen, Chief Specialist at Jamk and responsible for JYVSECTEC's RGCE environment.
The CITADEL Range project, co-funded by the European Defence Fund, is scheduled to start in 2025. The duration of the project is 42 months.
More information on the subject is available on the European Commission's website: Result of the EDF 2024 Calls for Proposals
