Nicosia: The KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence at the University of Cyprus has become a key participant in the European CITADEL Range project, aimed at enhancing Europe's cyber defence capabilities through innovative training and exercise technologies.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the CITADEL Range project, funded by the European Defence Fund (EDF), is focused on developing a range of cost-effective and advanced cyber range tools designed to prepare the European Union and its Member States' armed forces for comprehensive cyber defence operations. The project's goal is to address significant challenges in strengthening Europe's cyber defence posture and enabling coordinated responses across Member States. Current practices primarily focus on cybersecurity protection measures, leaving operational cyber defence training as a costly and fragmented endeavor, especially in the development of high-fidelity cyber ranges. CITADEL Range intends to overcome these limitations by offering seven interoperable solutions connected through a unified protocol, which will integrate with existing cyber ranges to reduce costs and enhance realism, interoperability, and operational readiness.
The project is an EU flagship large-scale initiative coordinated by SIHTASUTUS CR14 from Estonia, involving 36 partners from 19 EU Member States, including academia, industry, SMEs, NGOs, and both public and private sector organizations. This broad participation ensures a multidisciplinary approach and strong alignment with both national and EU-level operational needs. The project has a duration of 42 months and a budget exceeding 60 million euros, with more than 19 Ministries of Defence from European countries co-funding the effort.
The KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence is set to play a significant role in the project's research activities, focusing on state-of-the-art analysis and active contribution to the technical implementation of proposed solutions. The Center will lead research and development efforts in key areas such as Artificial Intelligence and Digital Twin technologies, contributing to three of the project's seven pillars. By leveraging its expertise in critical infrastructure systems and cyber-physical security and resilience, KIOS will support the development of advanced digital tools aimed at enhancing operational realism, strengthening coordinated cyber defence capabilities, and promoting cross-border collaboration among EU Member States.
The KIOS CoE research team involved in this project includes Professor Maria K. Michael, Dr. Christos Laoudias, Research Lecturer, Dr. Kyriakos Christou, Senior Software Engineer, Dr. Vasilis Ieropoulos, Research Associate, and Theofanis Eleftheriades, Software Engineer.