News

The use of large language models (LLMs) in federal administration opens up new opportunities for digital transformation. At the same time, the question arises as to how digital sovereignty can be maintained. A recent study by the Competence Center for Public IT (ÖFIT) at Fraunhofer FOKUS – a think tank funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior – highlights in-house developments in the field of generative AI and assesses their impact on key sovereignty goals such as interchangeability, design flexibility, and vendor independence.

On November 26, 2025, Dr. Jens Klessmann, head of the “Digital Public Services” (DPS) business unit, was elected to the “Association for Secure Digital Identity” (VSDI). The association is a nationwide network of companies, universities, and research institutions that promotes the transformation from analog to digital identities. As a new member of the board, Klessmann will actively support the VSDI in the future.

On Computer Security Day on November 30, 2025, Fraunhofer FOKUS and the Weizenbaum Institute will emphasize the central importance of digital resilience for the state, the economy, and society.

Fraunhofer FOKUS designed a private 5G campus network at the Otto Lilienthal Research Airfield in Schönhagen (Brandenburg) and implemented it in collaboration with the department of Aviation Management at TH Wildau, “Flugplatz Schönhagen – Forschungsflugplatz Otto Lilienthal”, and MIT GmbH. The multi-vendor network serves as a test environment for use cases and new 5G functions. Fraunhofer FOKUS will present this reference implementation at PMRExpo in Cologne from November 25 to 27, 2025.

At the conclusion of the ConnRAD research project at the Bosch test track in Renningen, Fraunhofer FOKUS and its partners demonstrated that vehicle-to-X communication becomes more secure and resilient through the transmission of metadata on the quality of sensor source.

The BITKOM working group on digital education has been reorganised. It is now called “Future of Learning“ – a sign of the further development of modern, digital education in society, business and politics. We are delighted that FOKUS researcher Dr Christopher Krauß has been elected to the working group's executive committee.

Non‑terrestrial networks (NTN) are being incorporated into 6G for the first time from the outset of the standardization process. In this interview Dr. Marius Corici, deputy director of the Software‑based Networks business unit, explains the benefits and operation of such a super network.

The new DIN SPEC 91520:2025-09 is the first guideline for an interface for quantum computing. Fraunhofer FOKUS was responsible for project management, coordinated the contributions of the working group and developed the specification together with its partners.

The “IML4E” (Industrial Machine Learning for Enterprises) project led by Fraunhofer FOKUS has been honoured with the “ITEA Award of Excellence 2025”. This award recognises outstanding achievements in applied research and development within the international ITEA programme.

At the Advisory Board meeting on September 12, Institute Director Prof. Dr. Manfred Hauswirth and his deputy Prof. Dr. Tom Ritter, together with Chairman Dr. Klaus Zehner, welcomed Prof. Dr. Fatma Deniz as a new member on behalf of Fraunhofer FOKUS and the entire board. Prof. Deniz was officially appointed as a member of the Advisory Board on July 1, 2025.