Cybersecurity must work in practice: A national cyber ecosystem rooted in IT City Katrinebjerg

The initiative brings together 23 companies from the cybersecurity sector, contributing services with a total value of DKK 33.5 million, supplemented by DKK 43 million from Industriens Fond and state initiatives. The ambition is clear. Knowledge and technology must be translated into concrete support in companies’ day to day operations.

An ecosystem built for practice

The initiative aligns directly with the development that has been built up over several years in the IT City Katrinebjerg in Aarhus. Here, INCUBA has helped create the framework for a coherent cyber ecosystem, where research, startups, and established companies work side by side on solutions that can be applied in practice.

A central hub in this effort is Security Tech Space, a knowledge center focused on research, innovation, and business development within cybersecurity. INCUBA is one of the founders of Security Tech Space, which was established to bring together actors across knowledge institutions, industry, and public authorities and to create an environment where cybersecurity is developed close to real world needs.

“With Security Tech Space, our ambition is for Denmark to take the lead and set the direction for future cyber secure solutions. We are stronger when we collaborate on research, innovation, and business development. By bringing education, research, innovation, and the entire private market together in Security Tech Space, we have created a unique position that we must leverage. Our mission is to strengthen Denmark’s digital defense together with a consortium of approximately 80 organizations and companies,” says Peer H. Kristensen, Director of Security Tech Space.

The new national initiative highlights the importance of this very approach. Its focus on SMEs, access to experts, testing and maturation programs, and competence development mirrors the work already taking place in and around the IT City Katrinebjerg in Aarhus.

A key element of the initiative is the so called in kind contributions. In kind contributions refer to professional inputs such as time, knowledge, advisory services, technical services, and access to expertise that are provided instead of cash funding. In Cybersikker virksomhed, this means that companies from the cybersecurity sector contribute their expertise and solutions directly, enabling SMEs to receive practical support that can be used in their day to day operations.

Several actors connected to the cyber environment in the IT City Katrinebjerg contribute with in kind services to the initiative, including Truesec, Campfire Security, Cyberpartners, Complychain, Lex Futura as well as INCUBA.

In this way, the ecosystem contributes not only as a framework and meeting place, but also with concrete resources that help translate the ambitions behind the national initiative into action in companies’ daily operations.

“Cybersecurity cannot be solved in silos. It requires environments where research, startups, and companies come together around concrete challenges. This is exactly the type of ecosystem we have invested in building, and the national initiative confirms that this is the right direction,” says Jacob Doktor Mogensen, CEO of INCUBA.

Jacob Doktor Mogensen & Camilla Dalsgaard Larsen, INCUBA, med Peer H. Kristensen, Security Tech Space

Aarhus as a national hub

The initiative also naturally builds on Aarhus University’s launch of AU Cyber, through which the university is investing more than DKK 300 million in research, education, and innovation within cybersecurity.

Together, the initiatives strengthen Aarhus’ position as a national powerhouse for cybersecurity. AU Cyber contributes deep, research-based knowledge and the education of the next generation of cybersecurity specialists, while innovation environments such as INCUBA and Security Tech Space build the bridge to industry and to the companies that must translate knowledge into practical solutions.

Long-term investments in digital resilience

For INCUBA, cybersecurity is not a temporary area of focus, but a strategic position of strength. Through investments in physical facilities, community building, and partnerships, the science park has helped establish an environment where cybersecurity solutions can be developed, tested, and scaled in close interaction with the market.

With Cybersikker virksomhed, this approach is being elevated to the national level. The objective is not only to raise security standards in the short term, but to create a more robust and sustainable digital foundation for Danish industry in the long term.