For the past six months, the CIPHER consortium has been pushing architectural designs and technical framework discussions through screens and remote channels. While remote work kept us on track, there is a completely different level of technical speed you only unlock when you put everyone in the same room. Last week, we finally made it happen as partners officially gathered on-site at the i2CAT Research Centre facilities in Barcelona.
These two days were a turning point for the project, where we turned plans into a concrete, shared roadmap.
Day 1: Moving from individual components to live integration
The assembly started with immediate operational focus. The morning session was dedicated to an exhaustive asset-mapping review, where partners, including IMU/ICCS, Eviden, K3Y, Avantix, TEMERON, Existanze, and i2CAT, presented their respective tools and core code elements.
Laying out these technical assets transparently was the exact prerequisite needed for the afternoon’s hands-on work: our first cross-Work Package (cross-WP) integration workshops.
Watching live tool demonstrations running side-by-side allowed our technical teams to move past abstract data flows. Consortium members and WP leaders spent the afternoon mapping out exactly how our components connect, pinning down critical inputs and outputs, identifying functional gaps, and establishing a precise technical roadmap for the upcoming development phases of the cyber-risk framework.
Day 2: Scaling the ecosystem – Dissemination, Open Call, and next milestones
With a solid technical foundation locked in from Day 1, the second day shifted toward how CIPHER will grow, interact with external stakeholders, and impact the wider European cybersecurity landscape.
Instead of running through heavy administrative checklists, we focused our efforts on three simple, critical pillars:
- Strategic dissemination: As part of Task 8.1, we mapped out our dissemination channels to make sure our progress directly reaches infrastructure operators, essential service providers, and cybersecurity authorities.
- Open Call co-creation: We held an intensive session to shape the upcoming Open Call framework managed by F6S. We aligned on the specific technical requirements, challenges, and timing needed to bring top-tier innovators, startups, and SMEs into the CIPHER testbed ecosystem.
- Roadmap lock-in: Before wrapping up, the consortium locked in the next concrete development milestones. This clear action plan ensures that as we transition back to remote work, the incredible momentum and synergy built in Barcelona stays completely intact.
What’s next?
Six months into the project, seeing the core pieces of CIPHER connect in real-time shows that we are exactly where we need to be. The team is leaving Barcelona with a clear vision, an accelerated development track, and a renewed collaborative spirit.
A massive thank you to all our partners for the incredible focus they brought this week. And a special thank you to our host, i2CAT Research Centre, for the warm welcome and for making these two days run so smoothly with a clear vision, an accelerated development track, and a reinforced collaborative spirit!