STIFTUNG SECURE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

Their core work

SIC is an Austrian research foundation specializing in secure digital identity systems, privacy-preserving data technologies, and cryptographic protocols. Their work sits at the intersection of information security and practical data governance — building systems that allow individuals and organizations to control, share, and monetize personal data without sacrificing privacy. In CREDENTIAL they developed secure cloud-based identity wallet infrastructure; in KRAKEN they moved into decentralized identity brokerage and personal data markets, addressing both the technical and legal-ethical dimensions of data exchange. They function as a technical research partner bringing security engineering and applied cryptography expertise into innovation-focused EU consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first project (CREDENTIAL, 2015–2018), SIC worked on centralised cloud identity infrastructure — a wallet model where credentials are securely stored and managed in the cloud. By KRAKEN (2019–2022), the focus had shifted decisively toward decentralised identity architectures, personal data brokerage, and the ethical-legal scaffolding required to make data markets trustworthy. This reflects a broader field-wide shift from server-side identity management toward self-sovereign identity (SSI) and user-controlled data sharing. SIC appears to have tracked that transition deliberately, deepening expertise in the data rights and compliance layer as technical cryptographic foundations matured.

SIC is moving toward the governance and ethics layer of personal data ecosystems — a space that will grow significantly under GDPR enforcement, the EU Data Act, and emerging data space initiatives like Gaia-X and IDSA.

How they like to work

SIC has consistently joined consortia as a participant, never leading a project as coordinator across their two H2020 engagements. Both projects were Innovation Actions, meaning SIC operates in applied, prototype-building consortia rather than pure research networks. With 20 unique partners across 10 countries from just two projects, they plug into broad European teams rather than working in tight bilateral arrangements — suggesting they are comfortable as a specialist node in larger multi-stakeholder collaborations.

SIC has collaborated with 20 distinct partners across 10 countries, a relatively wide network for an organisation with only two projects. Their partnerships span the European ICT and security research landscape, with no apparent geographic concentration within that reach.

What sets them apart

SIC occupies a narrow but valuable niche: a small Austrian research foundation that combines hard cryptographic and security engineering with legal-ethical expertise in personal data markets — a combination that is rare and increasingly in demand as EU data regulations tighten. Unlike university groups that publish and move on, their foundation structure and Innovation Action track record suggests orientation toward deployable prototypes rather than purely academic outputs. For a consortium needing a partner who can bridge GDPR compliance, cryptographic architecture, and decentralised identity standards, SIC offers that in one organisation.

Highlights from their portfolio

• KRAKEN
  Their most recent and best-documented project, KRAKEN tackled the complex problem of building a legal, privacy-preserving personal data marketplace — combining decentralised identity, cryptography, ethics, and data economics in a single Innovation Action.
• CREDENTIAL
  An early entry into EU-funded digital identity research (2015), CREDENTIAL positioned SIC in the cloud identity wallet space before decentralised identity became the dominant paradigm, establishing their foundational security credentials.