With its “Parcours de cybersécurité” program launched in 2021, France is demonstrating how targeted government funding can improve cybersecurity in public institutions in the long term.
Broad support: The national cybersecurity agency ANSSI provided a total of €176 million in support to 945 municipalities, hospitals, and other institutions.
Concrete measures: Over 3,000 security measures have been implemented, ranging from system hardening and network segmentation to backup strategies.
Measurable success: The cyber maturity level of participants rose significantly from “D+” to “B.” In addition, there is a stronger commitment to greater cybersecurity: the program for strong commitment significant increase in investment in cybersecurity: municipalities invested an average of 30 percent more than the amount of funding received
The French funding program and the survey results clearly show how financial incentives can drive the implementation of new solutions in a targeted manner. More than half of decision-makers would switch to European providers if funding programs were available. A corresponding “sovereignty check” for public IT procurement in Germany could strengthen the focus on European solutions and actively promote digital sovereignty.