Cyber-secure administrative workplace of the future

Through the HAL 2027 competition, the Cyberagentur (Cyber Agency) is seeking unconventional ideas on what the administrative workplace of the day after tomorrow might look like. Researchers, start-ups, universities and companies can take part by submitting brief proposals. The deadline for entries is 18 August, 2026.

Piles of paperwork and fax machines are now a rare sight in modern, digitised public administration. Instead, artificial intelligence has come to define the landscape here too. Digital processes, AI systems and automated assistance functions are fundamentally transforming the administrative workplace, reducing the workload on staff and streamlining processes.

However, this technological transformation has also led to increased cybersecurity requirements within public administration. But how can the administrative workplace of the future be designed to be cyber-secure, self-sufficient and fit for purpose? The Cyberagentur (Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH) is exploring this question as part of its second ideas competition. The competition, ‘Cyber-secure administrative workplace of the future’ (HAL 2027), is therefore deliberately seeking unconventional ideas for integrated working environments in which identities, data, the use of AI, access rights, user-friendliness and organisational processes are considered as a whole. It is looking for plausible solutions ‘for the day after tomorrow’, which may well involve a degree of risk.

Researchers, students, universities, research institutions, start-ups, companies and individuals are all eligible to take part. The Cyberagentur aims to use this ideas competition to attract new participants with fresh approaches. It is crucial that the concepts go beyond existing solutions and can make a recognisable contribution to the cyber security of the public sector.

Ideas can be submitted online in the form of a brief concept.

The deadline for entries is 18 August 2026.

A jury will then select the three best ideas from the entries. The finalists will subsequently develop a concept, each of which will be awarded 40,000 euros. There is also prize money: first place is worth 100,000 euros, second place 30,000 euros and third place 20,000 euros. The aim is to turn the winning ideas into concrete research projects. (vdo)