December 14, 2023.- The Minister of Digital Transformation, José Luis Escrivá, has visited the headquarters of the Cybersecurity Institute of Spain (INCIBE), dependent on the Ministry, in León. In this way, he has known at first hand the work of this institution and has held a working meeting with the team.

Escrivá has highlighted “the enormous protective work carried out by INCIBE, both of citizens and companies and of the public administrations themselves, which can feel much safer at a crucial time for digitalization, such as the one we live in”. Thus, he recalled that the information and communications sector is the one that has created the most jobs since the pandemic, “which shows its enormous strength at the moment”. In this regard, he stressed that “trust is fundamental”, for which he thanked the entire staff for their daily work.

In addition, he added that “we are living a key moment for cybersecurity and it is important that public institutions, such as INCIBE, ensure our protection”. In particular, it has highlighted its contribution to our economy by promoting “the safe digitalization of our companies, something that has incalculable value”.

INCIBE projects

The meeting presented the main projects of INCIBE, among which stands out the public invitation of entrepreneurship launched this year ‘INCIBE Emprende 2023-2026’, collected within the Strategic Plan 2021- 2025 of INCIBE and in line with the agenda España Digital 2026. The total investment to be carried out in the programme will be more than 64 million euros, of which INCIBE will contribute 45 million from Next Generation EU funds. Its objectives include strengthening the cybersecurity capacities of citizens, SMEs and professionals, and boosting the ecosystem of the cybersecurity sector.

In addition, the service ‘Your Help in Cybersecurity’, since its launch, has served more than 252,000 queries, of which more than 156,000 are from users concerned about their cybersecurity. Thus, an average of more than 1,500 weekly consultations has been reached so far this year. The type of care offered by this line is, above all, focused on preventive advice, reactive and informative consultations. In this year’s accumulated data, it can be seen that the preventive line was the one that received the most requests, with 55% of the consultations, followed by 45% for reactive advice.

The Government of Spain has also stressed its commitment, through INCIBE, to the promotion of companies and industry, through the Strategic Initiative of Innovative Public Procurement (IECPI), a tool to promote innovation in cybersecurity from the public sector, specifically through the acquisition of innovative solutions or in the development phase, with 175 million euros committed, in 142 R+D+I projects in cybersecurity, with 83 different contractors and a total of 100 companies involved, of which 75% are SMEs.

To conclude, the data of the strategic projects and the cybersecurity chairs have been released to support the development of research, development and innovation programs and the strengthening of cybersecurity capacities by public universities. With regard to the chairs, 16 agreements and 51 strategic projects have now been concluded, with a total contribution of 40.5 million euros. All this is carried out within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), with the financing of the Next Generation EU.