Enhancing the cybersecurity of robots

New fund from the Danish Industry Foundation will invest DKK 10.1 million to strengthen cybersecurity in Danish robotics. Odense Robotics will contribute to enhance cybersecurity across value chains in the Danish robotics industry.

SMEs in particular need to be better equipped to prevent unauthorised access from hackers, which is occuring more ferequently through their points of contact. The increasing digitisation of partnerships and collaborations across the realms of robotics, automation and drones make it essential to consider cybersecurity beyond individual company IT security levels.

The task at hand now is to bridge the gap between research-based knowledge and practical application for the Danish robotics sector.

“It’s an extremely timely and relevant project that we expect will significantly contribute to enhancing competitiveness within the Danish robotics industry,” says Søren Elmer Kristensen, CEO of Odense Robotics.

An autumn 2022 survey by the Danish Industry Foundation revealed that 56% of all small and medium-sized businesses, the majority of the Danish business landscape, experienced one or more competitive advantages due to their efforts to enhance IT security. This included boosting employees’ and management’s understanding of avoiding traps set by hackers to gain access to data and IT systems.

The Danish Industry Foundation invests more than DKK 40 million

Divided over five projects (Odense Robotics, Food & Bio Cluster Denmark, Business Hub Central Denmark, the University of Southern Denmark, and Copenhagen Business School), the new fund will involve around 250 companies and affect a total of 9,000 individuals.

DKK 10.1 million will go towards Odense Robotics’ efforts to bolster security in the robotics industry, while 8.2 million, through Food & Bio Cluster Denmark, will be used to do the same in the food sector.

Special focus will be on these two sectors, which are “particularly sensitive and highly vulnerable to attacks,” says Malene Stidsen, Programme Director of Cybersecurity at the Danish Industry Foundation, in a new article on Berlingske.

Over the past five years, the Danish Industry Foundation has allocated around 170 million Danish kroner to projects aimed at strengthening companies’ cybersecurity.

Project to start this autumn 

The project will kick off this autumn and run until 2026. Company participation will begin early 2024.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Mads Graves, Business Development Manager and Project Responsibible at Odense Robotics.