Industrial processes are becoming increasingly digital and interconnected. Companies want to leverage this trend to improve production efficiency and address the shortage of skilled workers through increasingly autonomous production. To achieve this, automated systems must be able to make safety-critical decisions reliably and with confidence.
AI is intended to safeguard automated production lines
Production interruptions caused by safety devices that trigger automatically on semi- and fully automated machine tools operating unmanned highlight the issue at hand: Before production can resume following an automatically triggered safety shutdown—such as when a light curtain at the machine access point is interrupted—a trained person must confirm that there is no danger to people or machines within the safety zone. In the future, AI could take on this task and decide to resume production based on specific data and in compliance with all safety-related requirements.
For this use case, KIbSIS is developing the necessary technologies, such as AI-based detection of malfunctions and cyberattacks, a secure system platform for safe AI applications, quantum-resistant cryptography with secure elements, and a trusted Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) for industrial products. This results in standardized interfaces, such as the Generic Trust Anchor API, and quantum-resistant protocols that can be used in various cloud-edge environments regardless of the manufacturer.
The AIbSIS technologies thus help to seamlessly connect cloud and edge computing, enabling resources to be flexibly distributed between the central cloud and decentralized edge nodes. In this way, the project significantly supports the development of a multi-provider cloud-edge continuum.
At the 2026 Hannover Messe, the relevant departments of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Korean Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP), and the participating companies and research institutions exchanged views on the current status of the project, while Korean-German expert groups discussed further potential topics for future joint activities.
The AI-based security technologies developed are fundamental to the implementation of Industrie 4.0. The Korean-German project team plans to present a demonstrator at the 2028 Hannover Messe.
About KIbSIS
KIbSIS is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as part of the EU’s IPCEI Next Generation Cloud Infrastructures and Services project. By developing autonomous and quantum-resistant security solutions for industrial systems, the project makes a significant contribution to the digital sovereignty of Germany and Europe. The funding body is the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE). The project partners are Fraunhofer AISEC, Siemens (consortium coordinator), TRUMPF, and WIBU-Systems (FKZ 13IPC041A-D). The project is scheduled to run from October 1, 2025, to April 30, 2028.
