Bilbao, February 17th, 2026 – ACICAE participates alongside AIC in the SAREAN project, led by TEKNEI as part of the HAZITEK 2025 call for proposals. This project addresses the growing need for Basque industry to tackle digital transformation from a comprehensive security perspective. The progressive hyperconnectivity of production systems, key to improving efficiency and competitiveness, has created new vulnerabilities arising from the interdependence between physical and digital environments. In a context in which the manufacturing industry is not formally recognized as critical infrastructure, but is essential to the economy and society, there is a clear need to provide it with an equivalent level of protection, in line with the new European regulatory frameworks and Basque public policies aimed at resilience and the protection of sensitive infrastructure.
Within this framework, the project, subsidized by the Basque Government and co-financed by the European Union’s ERDF funds, has the main objective of positioning the Basque Country as a benchmark in the development of advanced industrial security technologies and solutions, holistically integrating physical and cyber security. Thanks to its Automotive Smart Factory (ASF) Competence Center, AIC has an ideal testing environment for the development of a use case, thanks to its high degree of digitization.
By promoting R&D, collaborating with end users, and strengthening the local value chain, SAREAN will contribute to consolidating an ecosystem specializing in industrial security, reinforcing technological sovereignty, international competitiveness, and the role of the Basque Country as a leading hub for innovative advanced protection solutions.
