Research on Updating and Certifying Complex Systems
The Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH (Cyberagentur) invites you to a partnering event for the research program “Updating and Certifying Complex Systems” (AKOS) on December 1, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The event will focus on providing initial information about the program and facilitating networking with the aim of establishing potential research partnerships.
How can security-critical complex systems be certified and updated without incurring technical, financial, or legal risks?
With the research program “Updating and Certifying Complex Systems” (AKOS), the Cyberagentur is addressing a challenge that is of great importance for long-lasting and particularly vulnerable systems.
AKOS stems from a practical problem: systems with high security requirements, in particular, are often subject to complex certification processes. In practice, this means that changes are sometimes avoided or significantly delayed to prevent the need for recertification. However, a lack of updates can lead to known vulnerabilities persisting for longer periods. In times of international cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, this can have devastating consequences.
With increasing digitalization, systems are becoming increasingly more complex. Rarely is a single system the focus; rather, it is a multitude of subsystems and their interactions. For AKOS, it is therefore crucial to decide how to identify such repercussions as reliably as possible before an update is deployed to the live system. The project also aims to investigate how testing and certification procedures can be made more efficient while remaining at least as secure as before.
AKOS addresses three interrelated areas:
- The secure updating of critical systems,
- the improvement of testing procedures through the use of new technologies to accelerate certification processes, and
- opportunities for continuous certification and recertification.
This also includes the question of how the consequences of a change for the overall system and for existing certifications can be assessed at an early stage.
Faster yet reliable tools—such as those for automated penetration testing or formal verification—could help keep security-critical systems up to date over longer lifecycles. Among others, operators of critical infrastructure, government agencies, and organizations that operate complex systems under stringent security and certification requirements can benefit from this.
With the Partnering Event on December 1, 2026, the Cyberagentur is providing a structured framework for information sharing and networking. Interested parties will receive information there on the research program’s focus and objectives, as well as on the planned procurement process. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to present their institutions and technical expertise in short presentations. The event is therefore aimed at research institutions, companies, startups, and other stakeholders who wish to engage with the program’s key focus areas at an early stage and explore potential collaborations. The event is designed as a non-binding information and networking forum in the lead-up to a possible future call for proposals. Those interested can register for the partnering event by November 25 on the website at the following link: