Dual-Use Is the Future – Military and Civil Security Research Go Hand in Hand

11 December 2025

At this year’s conference of the National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity (NKCS), the focus was on Europe. Against the backdrop of the current geopolitical situation, the issues of security and digital sovereignty are becoming increasingly important and require prompt action. With the conference in Cologne at the end of October, the NKCS provided a platform to foster synergies, cooperation, and knowledge transfer, and to strengthen Europe through targeted investments and innovations. In addition to numerous expert presentations, there was also a session on “(EU) Funding for Research and Development,” during which the Research Insitute CODE organized one of three breakout sessions.

Digitalization and advancing technological interconnectivity are presenting new challenges to our society, economy, and defense alike. At the same time, they are opening up immense opportunities. In the field of cyber defense, the boundaries between civilian and military applications are becoming increasingly blurred: innovations emerging from civilian research can make a decisive contribution to security and defense capabilities — and vice versa. The breakout session “Funding and Dual-Use in the Cyber Defense Sector,” organized by PD Dr. Corinna Schmitt from RI CODE: Funding, Development, and Strategic Use of Dual-Use Technologies in the Cyber and Security Context, focused on this intersection. The session aimed to explore how research funding, innovation ecosystems, and international networks can help anchor key digital technologies responsibly and effectively in both the civilian and military spheres. The invited speakers presented diverse, complementary perspectives on the topic.

Dr. Annika-Kathrin Belz from the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich presented the German Armed Forces Center for Digitalization and Technology Research (dtec.bw) and explained how targeted funding can enable and strengthen dual-use research at universities.

Isabel Grube of the Palladion Defense Accelerator demonstrated how programs such as NATO DIANA help turn disruptive ideas into viable dual-use business strategies and how synergies between startups, research, and the defense sector could be leveraged.

Finally, Stephanie Wißmann, a researcher at the NATO Science and Technology Organization (NATO STO) and co-founder of a cybersecurity startup, explained why collaboration among stakeholders, disciplines, and institutions is a key factor in cybersecurity success. She also offered practical insights on how to make this collaboration a success.

The presentations emphasized that funding, innovation, and cooperation form the foundation for a resilient, technologically sovereign future in the cyber defense sector. In addition to traditional EU funding programs, there are various opportunities to collaborate with the Bundeswehr at the national level or with NATO at the international level. Technology that is developed and adopted quickly and easily in the civilian sector may also hold potential for military applications in the cyber, space, air, land, and maritime domains, which can contribute to safeguarding society’s security and sovereignty.

Photos: © SeCoSys/Schmitt