Breaking Down Silos, Offering Partnership: RI CODE/SeCoSys at the Bonner IT-Dialog 2026
9 October 2026
Under the motto “Germany’s Resilience Put to the Test”, AFCEA Bonn brought together the Bundeswehr, federal states, civil protection, critical infrastructure operators, industry and research on 7 and 8 October. The key message: Germany has the capabilities it needs for its security, but lacks the links between them, above all clear responsibilities in civil-military cooperation. Highlights included the study “Whole-of-Government Security Ecosystem 2030” with 30 measures, lessons from Ukraine, and a federated situational picture for critical infrastructure developed by young officers from the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. RI CODE was present with its own booth, promoting straightforward research partnerships, the NCC-DE and a Capture-the-Flag competition in 2027 on Airbus’s Cyber Range.
Two days, one central message: Germany has the capabilities it needs for its security, but lacks the connections between them. Under the motto “Germany’s Resilience Put to the Test”, AFCEA Bonn e.V. brought together the Bundeswehr, federal states, civil protection, critical infrastructure operators, industry and research. Major General Armin Fleischmann, Chairman of AFCEA Bonn, opened the event; patron Mona Neubaur, Minister for Economic Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, joined via video message.
Day 1 opened with Colonel Michael Trautermann, Commander of State Command Rhineland-Palatinate, presenting the military perspective on whole-of-society resilience. In the subsequent panel on the role of the Bundeswehr within Germany’s Operations Plan (OPLAN DEU), he was joined by BWI Managing Director Dr. Christian Marwitz and Colonel (GS) Stephan Sauer of the Cyber and Information Domain Command (Kdo CIR). The common thread: in a crisis, Germany is simultaneously a troop contributor, a transit country and a host nation. This requires information to flow quickly, reliably and securely between military and civilian authorities, not only once a crisis hits, but usable and exercised well in advance. Participants identified the lack of clear responsibilities as the biggest gap, in other words, the need for governance of civil-military cooperation.
NRW State Secretary Paul Frederik Höller contributed the federal state perspective. In the afternoon, study lead Bernhard Steimel presented the AFCEA study “Whole-of-Government Security Ecosystem 2030” and discussed it with Major General Fleischmann, Bernd König (Google Cloud Public Sector) and Norbert Ahrend (Arvato Systems). The study outlines a dual cloud strategy and 30 measures in six fields of action for distributed and deployable digital infrastructures, based on 50 interviews and a comparison with the Netherlands, Estonia, Finland and Ukraine. A powerful close to the day: Andrii Levanchuk and Dominik Brinkmann shared what Ukraine teaches us about civilian resilience in an emergency.
One highlight came from the University of the Bundeswehr Munich: Second Lieutenants Aaron Emde, Tamino Müller and Erik Zahn presented “From Alert to Action”, a concept for a federated situational picture in the event of hybrid attacks on Germany’s critical infrastructure, developed in the Hacking4Defense format. The team was mentored by Captain (Navy) PD Dr. Dr. Robert Koch.
The programme was accompanied by an exhibition featuring 36 exhibitors, all sharing the motto “Research you can simply put to use”. The range extended from major IT service providers such as BWI, CGI, Capgemini, Materna and CANCOM, through defence and technology groups such as Airbus, Rohde & Schwarz and Ericsson, to specialist providers of cybersecurity, situational awareness and sovereign cloud solutions, including Enginsight, enclaive, Systematic and Esri. With the ZDigBw, the Cyberagentur, Defence.NRW and the Research Institute CODE, the Bundeswehr, federal government, state and academia were also represented with their own booths. Many exhibitors picked up directly on the event’s theme: shared situational pictures across organisational boundaries and digital sovereignty ran through numerous presentations. 
This year, the RI CODE of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich was also represented with its own booth. The focus was on in-depth expert exchange with the Bundeswehr, public authorities and industry, combined with a clear message: partnering with RI CODE is straightforward, and joint research is explicitly welcome. Prof. Dr. Corinna Schmitt and colleagues held conversations with numerous partners, which have already led to initial joint project ideas or to cooperation opportunities that will be explored in the near future. At the booth, the institute also promoted the NCC-DE and the upcoming Capture-the-Flag competition in 2027, organised in cooperation with Airbus, which is providing its Cyber Range. The CTF builds on the close cooperation between the University of the Bundeswehr Munich and Airbus and is open to anyone who wants to put their cyber skills to the test in competition.
Conclusion of the Bonner IT-Dialog 2026: Security is not the Bundeswehr’s task alone. Resilience only emerges when networks, cloud, processes, responsibilities and content are considered together, and when all stakeholders come to the same table for this purpose.
Photos: © SeCoSys/Schmitt
