We are surrounded by codes and signs every day, often without noticing them. Reinhard Doubrawa, a conceptual artist, addresses them with great intensity in his works, questioning how they create sense and meaning. He has now designed the award for the 9th German IT Security Prize, which will be presented on November 10, 2022 at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB). The event's patron is the Federal Minister of the Interior and for Home Affairs, Nancy Faeser.
The Horst Görtz Foundation was able to gain the Cologne-based artist especially for this occasion. Doubrawa, who exhibits in renowned galleries and museums in Europe, has developed an aesthetic form for the award that reflects his associations with IT security. Made of stainless steel, the disc shows a homogeneous, freely designed pattern of strokes and arcs that offers the recipients room for onw associatons. The forms, which are cut out of the material, fill the disc right up to its edges. They are based on the typographically modified letter of the word “PROTECTED“. When designing the award, it was important to Doubrawa “that the award winners receive a prize that has a hint of the unknown, of the uncertain“, he explains in an interview.
Submissions in the final round
The 9th German IT Security Award is currently in the final round. The jury has selected the ten most innovative scientific projects “made in Germany“ from the 54 submitted. The top three will be announced at the award ceremony at the RUB Event Center, which is hosted by the Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security. The 1st prize is endowed with 100,000 euros, the 2nd prize with 40,000 euros and the 3rd prize with 20,000 euros.
High-ranking speakers at the Cybersecurity Innovation Conference
Bitkom's Cybersecurity Innovation Conference again accompanies this year's award ceremony. Speakers there will include Dr. Markus Richter, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community and Federal Government Commissioner for Information Technology (CIO Bund), and Julia Herrmann, Head of Security Architecture and Cyber Defense at Giesecke+Devrient. Other high-ranking experts from business and research will speak during the six panels on topics such as network and infrastructure security, hardware security and artificial intelligence security. The event will take place partly online.
The detailed program and a registration form can be found here.
About the German IT Security Award
The Horst Görtz Foundation awards the German Prize for IT Security biennially since 2006. The prize is intended to help consolidate and promote the position of IT security from Germany - and in this way contribute to strengthening the innovative power of the German economy.
The Jury
Chaired by Prof. Dr. Michael Waidner (National Research Center for Applied Cyber Security Athene), the jury is made up of experts from the fields of IT security, cryptography, system and network security, and defense against cyber attacks. He is joined this year by: Julia Hermann (Giesecke+Devrient Munich), Prof. Dr. Konrad Rieck (TU Braunschweig), Dr. Rainer Baumgart (former Secunet Security Networks AG), Prof. Dr. Angela Sasse (Ruhr University Bochum), Susanne Dehmel (Bitkom e. V.), Dr. Thomas Wollinger (Etas GmbH), Thomas Caspers (Federal Office for Information Security), Dr. Daniela Gerd tom Markotten (Deutsche Bahn AG) and Beate Hofer (Volkswagen AG).
Vita Doubrawa
Doubrawa, born in 1963, studied at the Kunsthochschule Kassel and the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1990 to 1995. He graduated in 1995 as a master student of Urs Lüthi. His works are shown in galleries and museums throughout Europe. Doubrawa lives and works in Cologne.
Press contact
Christina Scholten, Public Relations Officer at the Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security, Tel: +49-(0)234-32-29274, e-mail: christina.scholten(at)rub.de
Further information can be found at https://www.deutscher-it-sicherheitspreis.de/index.html and at www.hgi.rub.de.
General note: In case of using gender-assigning attributes we include all those who consider themselves in this gender regardless of their own biological sex.