Expert commission calls for more freedom for the Cyberagentur – more speed for Germany’s cyber security
The EFI Report 2026 recommends expanding the Cyberagentur’s scope for agile working and opening up its remit to enable follow-up projects up to higher technology maturity levels. The Cyberagentur sees this as a tailwind for its 2026-2030 strategy and is discussing a Freedom Act as an accelerator for cybersecurity research.
With the publication of the EFI Report 2026[1], the Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH (Cyberagentur) receives a clear recommendation from science and innovation policy: more agility, less friction, more impact. The Commission of Experts states: “In order to strengthen the potential of the Cyberagentur, the Commission of Experts is in favor of expanding its ability to act in an agile manner.” In addition, the report advocates further developing the mandate in such a way that follow-up projects can also be consistently brought to the application stage at higher levels of technological maturity. The EFI thus addresses precisely the central challenge of the current security situation: speed of response and depth of implementation are strategic factors in cyber security, not just process issues. The Cyberagentur is part of the National Security Strategy of the Federal Republic of Germany and focuses its work on long-term capabilities and technological sovereignty in cyberspace, especially where dual-use research can have an impact on security policy. Against this background, the EFI recommendation is also a tangible impetus to initiate a Freedom Act for the Cyberagentur in order to further accelerate decision-making, contractual and funding channels and to translate high-risk but potentially high-impact projects into resilient results more quickly. At the same time, the Cyberagentur sees itself confirmed by its new 2026-2030 strategy, which focuses on the key points addressed by the EFI: a stronger role as a think tank, binding transfer and depth of research up to application-oriented technology maturity levels. “The EFI is saying the right thing: agility is not a convenience in cyber security research, but a security requirement. If threats develop dynamically, our implementation speed must also be dynamic,” says Prof. Dr. Christian Hummert, Research Director of the Cyberagentur. “Our particular strength lies in dual-use research: we combine scientific excellence with concrete security relevance and bring solutions to where they have an impact. Our Strategy 2026-2030 is the clear framework for this – more speed, more transfer, more sovereignty,” says Prof. Dr. Christian Hummert.
Further information and registration:
https://www.cyberagentur.de/agentur/ueber-uns/
[1] https://www.e-fi.de/fileadmin/Assets/Gutachten/2026/EFI_Gutachten_2026_27126.pdf