On Tuesday 6 July by Frédéric JULHES, Director of Airbus CyberSecurity France, Françoise Prêteux, Deputy Director of Research and Economic Development at the Institut Mines-Télécom (IMT) and Anne Beauval, Vice-president of IMT Atlantique, signed an agreement, extending a partnership initiated in 2017. This signing marks the three entities commitment to developing collaboration in three key areas: training, implementing R&D programmes and recruiting engineers and doctors.
IMT Atlantique, a leading engineering school in the Institut Mines-Télécom group, has recognized expertise in training, research and innovation in the field of cybersecurity and its applications in the sectors of defence, industry and health. The school has privileged links with key players in the field and in particular with Airbus CyberSecurity, a subsidiary of Airbus Defence and Space. Airbus CyberSecurity is a European expert in cybersecurity, developing solutions and services that protect public administrations, defence solutions and critical national infrastructures against cyber threats. IMT Atlantique and Airbus CyberSecurity have been working together since 2017. IMT Atlantique uses the CyberRange platform in training its engineers and promotes this platform within its two specialised master's degrees (Cybersecurity and Cybersecurity of Maritime and Port Systems).
CyberRange at the heart of training
Since 2017, Airbus CyberSecurity has been providing IMT Atlantique with a CyberRange platform to support engineer training in the field of networks and cybersecurity. With the new agreement, IMT Atlantique strengthens its collaboration with the CyberRange community. The school will thus have access to content (practical work, simulations, etc.) shared with the other partners. IMT Atlantique will also be able to offer some of the content developed on CyberRange (exercises, course materials, answer keys, etc.) on the Community Hub, in order to share its know-how. Also in the context of training, IMT Atlantique will be able to call upon of Airbus CyberSecurity experts to participate in technical events on subjects related to IT (Information Technologies) and OT (Operational Technologies, i.e. industrial cybersecurity).
Research and innovation
IMT Atlantique and Airbus CyberSecurity will also strengthen their partnership in research and innovation. The first step is to set up an upstream analysis structure to identify relevant calls for projects and to develop joint R&D and R&T activities at national and European level. IMT Atlantique and Airbus CyberSecurity also intend to work together on thesis programmes, from identifying topics and recruiting doctoral students, to validating publications and postgraduate training. This is to be the main focus of the CyberCNI (Cybersecurity of Critical Infrastructures) chair. This collaboration also offers mobility options for doctoral students abroad or in Airbus Cybersecurity centres.
Targeting Recruitment
The partnership between IMT Atlantique, a school in the Institut Mines-Télécom group, and Airbus CyberSecurity also provides recruitment opportunities for the school's engineers and PhD graduates. Airbus CyberSecurity will participate in IMT Atlantique's student orientation and careers advice sessions. It also opens up scope for internships and work-study contracts for students throughout their studies within Airbus CyberSecurity and within the Airbus group in general.
Opening the door to Institut Mines-Télécom schools
The new agreement extends and strengthens existing links, in particular the partnership agreement signed in 2015 between Airbus and the Institut Mines-Telecom as part of the "Franco-German Academy for the Industry of the Future". Finally, this historic partnership with Airbus CyberSecurity is now extended to all Institut Mines-Telecom schools, which will be able to develop new collaborations around cybersecurity skills.
"For a cyber solutions provider like us, working closely with leading schools such as IMT Atlantique enables us to both remain innovative by keeping a close link with university research and to ensure that our solutions really meet the needs of those being trained in cyber security, for example students. Our CyberRange is already the benchmark solution for this type of use in France and we hope to continue to expand the community of users and contributors with similar partners."
Frédéric JULHES, Director of Airbus CyberSecurity France
"In the era of digital transformation of industry and e-government, cybersecurity is both a key issue for companies and a challenge for national sovereignty. Our partnership with a European leader such as Airbus CyberSecurity is in line with the mission of the Institut Mines-Télécom that is, to train the engineers and researchers of tomorrow to make them key players in the resilience to cyber attacks. I am proud that we now share this challenge with Institut Mines-Télécom schools and I salute the expertise and commitment of IMT Atlantique, which is driving this great collaboration forward."
Françoise Prêteux, Director of Research and Economic Development.
Learn more
by Pierre-Hervé VAILLANT
