Cooperation Partners
The involvement of cooperation partners, such as the Chambers of Industry and Commerce of East Württemberg and Heilbronn-Franken, as well as the Chambers of Crafts of Ulm and Heilbronn-Franken, ensures that the advisory concept is geared towards practical application.
In December 2022, the chambers of crafts had to reduce their involvement due to staff shortages. In mid-2023, the Stuttgart Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Upper Swabia Chamber of Industry and Commerce joined, while the Heilbronn-Franken Chamber of Industry and Commerce withdrew.
In June 2024, the Chambers of Crafts in Ulm, Reutlingen, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Mannheim and Bauwirtschaft BW were recruited as new partners, who took over the piloting of the HWKen after completing multiplier training.
Since the vast majority of chamber members are micro and small enterprises, the collaboration is ideally suited to the project's target group. The chambers are familiar with the cybersecurity needs of SMEs and can promote targeted measures through their network of advisors. The chambers, in particular the IHK Ostwürttemberg, supported the project through professional exchanges, surveys, the referral of SMEs for pilot projects and the provision of consulting services. By incorporating the Cyber Security Check for SMEs, they were able to expand their services to include an initial cyber security consultation, free of charge for member companies. The expansion to other multipliers is being promoted by the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry of the Interior and will continue beyond 2024.
Other Partners
In addition, expertise from security authorities, in particular the State Criminal Police Office, the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, the Centre for Neuroscience and Learning (ZNL) in Ulm and an IT service provider, was incorporated. A target group-oriented consultation process and implementable recommendations for action were developed in several workshops and working group meetings. The concept was developed in three preparatory workshops, followed by further meetings to develop the step-by-step model, the initial consultation and the basic procedures.