House of IT Security

Building the Future

Ever since it was first imagined as one of Europe’s first model cities and the ideal of a visionary community come to life in brick and mortar, Karlsruhe has been a hotbed of progress and innovation in the heart of Europe.

Today’s Karlsruhe is home to more than 4,000 IT enterprises, making the city one of the world’s leaders in terms of IT competence per square kilometer. Located in the Rhine valley, Europe’s first super-highway for commerce and ideas, the city and the many leading centers of industry nearby host countless businesses that are more and more affected by the digital revolution. Economic success in every sector of industry now depends on their ability to put new digital capabilities, from artificial intelligence to the connected infrastructures of Industry 4.0, to commercial use – safely and securely. IT security has become paramount, and Karlsruhe is again at the forefront of the field.

Envisioning the House of IT Security

With the multitude and variety of threats in the digital world, unity in diversity is the key: Different resources, competences, and capabilities need to converge to fight a threat whose nature and origin seems to change by the hour. The House of IT Security is designed to provide that unity, bundling the many IT security skills and resources from the region in one physical space under one physical roof: From startup incubators to training for established businesses and a dedicated agency for IT security incidents. As it brings together the rich experience and proven competencies of the established specialists and original pioneers of the industry with the innovative spark and energy of young startups, all key players in IT security research and business expect the House of IT Security to excel at its mission:

To combine academic excellence with enterprising minds to boost IT security research and practice.
To act as an amplifier for the agility and energy of growing startups.
To attract international companies pursuing IT security projects and academic and commercial partnerships to Karlsruhe.
To generate new jobs and revenue in the region.
To become a physical beacon of IT security.

A Crucible for Progress

Almost 5,500 square meters of the House of IT Security are earmarked for young businesses, providing an affordable home for IT security startups setting up shop in Karlsruhe or coming from specialized local incubators like the Cyberforum or StartUpSecure of the Competence Center for Applied Security Technology (KASTEL) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. With ready access to the office space they need to grow and a network of commercial and academic champions right on their doorstep, they can concentrate on their core mission: Finding new solutions to the challenges of tomorrow and turning their ideas into profitable businesses.

In its concept and its physical architecture, the House of IT Security is designed to spark cross-fertilization. It provides ample space to meet and share, with laboratory and training facilities and co-working spaces that hosts regular cooperation ventures and project activities, with short-term leases available to give enterprises from other fields a proverbial foot in the door in the unique IT security ecosystem of Karlsruhe.