What happens when a government takes the lead to coordinate its cybersecurity ecosystem and create a state-of-the-art hub for cybersecurity? You get Campus Cyber – a bold, world-class hub where innovation, training, and collaboration converge under one roof. In June 2025, the CyberHubs partners, including Cyber Ireland, travelled to Paris not just to visit this iconic space, but to uncover what makes it a driving force in France’s cybersecurity ambition. The experience offered more than inspiration – it delivered a clear vision of what’s possible when public leadership meets private innovation. For Ireland, it highlighted the urgent need to build a similarly ambitious and connected cybersecurity ecosystem.
CyberHubs Project
The European Network of Cybersecurity Skills Hubs (CyberHubs) is a 3-year EU project aiming to develop cybersecurity skills ecosystems across seven countries in Europe (Belgium, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Spain). The project includes champion partners such as Cyber Ireland and Campus Cyber, France, who are leading cybersecurity organisations for skills development in their countries and Europe.
Campus Cyber – A leading international cybersecurity hub
In June 2025, Cyber Ireland and the CyberHubs project partners visited Campus Cyber in Paris to learn from its establishment and operation.
Campus Cyber is a national initiative, conceived by President Macron and established by the French Government, to create a cybersecurity hub for innovation, collaboration, and training. The building opened in 2022 and is located in the La Défense business district, with 26,000 m² of office space. It aims to unite France’s cybersecurity ecosystem under one roof and houses over 1,600 cybersecurity professionals across 13 floors, including
- Major cybersecurity firms and startups;
- Public institutions like the National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI), the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Armed Forces, and INRIA;
- Academic institutions and training organizations;
- Dedicated spaces for innovation and simulation.
It is a public-private initiative with the French Ministry of the Interior overseeing its operations. The facility is designed to foster collaboration between public and private sectors, enabling real-time responses to cyber threats and enhancing France’s digital sovereignty.
Key Learnings for Ireland from France’s Leadership
Ireland can extract valuable strategic insights from the Campus Cyber initiative in France to strengthen its own cybersecurity ecosystem.
- A centre of gravity: Ireland has an urgent need for a physical cybersecurity campus or hub, a centre of gravity to bring together the cybersecurity ecosystem and key players across industry, start-ups, investors, education and training, research, government and civil society groups. It should be a public-private partnership meeting the needs of the stakeholders now and into the future to establish Ireland as a leader for cybersecurity. The hub should connect the existing cybersecurity ecosystem, infrastructure and initiatives.
- Government Leadership: France’s government took the lead to set the vision and activate private sector participation and investment. Similarly, the Irish Government can take the lead of developing Ireland’s Cyber Campus, coordinating government input across agencies responsible for cybersecurity, cybercrime, industry development, innovation and education, while activating the private sector.
- Physical and Intangible Assets: State of the art office space, facilities and cybersecurity infrastructure are required such as training SOCs or cyber ranges. However, supports and programmes are equally important to engage industry and stakeholders such as cybersecurity education, cyber exercises or simulations, start-up and scale-up accelerators, hackathons, and more.
- International Ambition: The hub should position Ireland as a gateway for EU cybersecurity collaboration and engagement between the Irish cybersecurity ecosystem and international partners. It should facilitate engagement with EU cybersecurity initiatives and projects, showcase Irish innovation in cybersecurity, and host international conferences, competitions, and EU-level meetings to elevate Ireland’s profile.
CyberHubs set to visit Ireland!
As a champion partner, the CyberHubs project will next visit Ireland to learn about the set-up and operations of Cyber Ireland, at the Cyber Ireland National Conference in Kilkenny this October. We look forward to welcoming our European partners to Ireland for an opportunity to learn, share, network, and collaborate.
