German Cyber Innovation Agency Tackles Bureaucracy With Tech Challenges

Through its technology competitions, Germany’s cyber innovation agency is working to accelerate procurement processes and break the barriers of the nation’s infamous bureaucratic system.

Building upon lessons learned from the SPECTRA challenge last year, Cyberagentur is preparing to kick off its MARLIN challenge early next month.

Within six months, teams from across NATO member states and partner nations will participate in a maritime security operations challenge, testing communication, sensor technology, cybersecurity and networking capabilities through integrated solutions.

The winning team will receive a 100,000 euro prize fund, in addition to up to 40,000 euros to develop and test its pitched technology.

While the award is an incentive for participation, the real gain is receiving direct feedback from the German military, said Julian Laufs, the agency’s head of strategic partnerships and knowledge transfer.

Following his presentation at TechNet International 2026, Laufs joined SIGNAL Media for an interview.

“It’s quite difficult for companies and especially startups, small or medium enterprises, or researchers to get feedback from the military on their solutions, because there are a lot of hoops they have to come through,” he explained.

The Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH, or Cyberagentur, was founded in 2020 to find and evaluate “high-risk projects with significant innovation potential in the field of cybersecurity,” the website states. Current figures state the team is comprised of 119 employees, with 109 million euros for research programs in 2026.

Together with the German Navy, the cyber agency explores ways to encourage innovative minds to develop and test their capabilities in real-world scenarios. With no limit on teams, or team members, participants can vary from industry to academia talent.

Recent efforts have been made to accelerate German military procurement, including certain reforms to existing laws, Laufs said.

“Cyberagentur is an agency that’s tasked with making radical innovation happen, and that’s the goal that we’re following,” he continued. “We’ve been one of the first ones to … introduce the precommercial procurement, which is an EU procurement tool,” Laufs said, referring to PCP.

PCP was introduced by the European Commission in 2007 to encourage research and development through private-public partnerships.  

Being the first to use PCP in Germany, Cyberagentur is constantly trying to push the boundaries of procurement law, Laufs said.

Notably, the German parliament passed a public contract acceleration law in April. The German Public Procurement Acceleration Act is set to launch July 1, according to a Noerr report.

“You could really say that Cyberagentur is innovating technologically a lot, but we are also innovating in terms of processes and procurement,” Laufs said. “We listen to stakeholders, to military and police, but we also listen to startups and companies, and there’s a lot of innovation potential out there.”

With the challenges, participating teams get the opportunity to test their innovation in real military exercises. The MARLIN challenge, for example, will allow teams to test their solutions in a North Sea operational exercise in December.

“If you look at Ukraine, they have really managed to … mobilize every bit of innovation potential they have,” Laufs added. “That’s kind of what we want as well. We want to get nontraditional actors. We want to get everyone who’s working on different technologies and thinking about problems from the military [perspectives].”

Cyberagentur aims to make the innovation space more inclusive for further disruptive technology development.

Last year’s challenge, for example, brought in cheap and adaptable solutions that gained very positive feedback from the group of German military judges.

Laufs also noted an upcoming challenge in September, details of which are yet to be announced.

TechNet International is organized by AFCEA Europe, AFCEA International's European office. SIGNAL Media is the official media of AFCEA International.