InnovaCyBridge and the UK Cyber OSPA awards

The EIT Higher Education Initiative continues to deliver not only impactful training and cross-sector opportunities but also award nominations. A strong example is InnovaCyBridge, a project funded under the Initiative and supported by EIT Urban Mobility.

InnovaCyBridge brings together universities, startups, and industry partners across borders to build real cybersecurity capability, not just awareness. From CyBOK-aligned curricula, staff development programmes, to corporate challenges and cross-border startup support, the project aims to strengthen Europe’s cyber resilience from the ground up.

In March 2026, InnovaCyBridge achieved a major milestone, being named a finalist in two categories at the 2026 UK Cyber OSPAs:

• Outstanding Cyber Security Training/Awareness Initiative – InnovaCyBridge Consortium (Aston University & Partners)
• Outstanding Overseas Cyber Security Initiative – InnovaCyBridge Consortium (Aston University & Partners)

The Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs) recognise excellence across the global security sector, celebrating measurable impact, innovation, and collaboration. Being shortlisted therefore represents not only industry recognition, but validation of InnovaCyBridge’s contribution to advancing cybersecurity capability, awareness, and international collaboration.

This recognition highlights how the project’s results extend beyond academia, gaining credibility within the professional cybersecurity community while advancing European leadership in cyber skills, awareness, and innovation.

Despite being only one year old, InnovaCyBridge is already demonstrating significant impact, with further great things planned for the year to come.

The project’s success was also reflected at the individual level. Dr. Anitha Chinnaswamy, InnovaCyBridge Project Coordinator and member of the HEI Community, was a finalist and winner of the Outstanding Cyber Security Professional award.

Both the consortium nominations and Dr. Chinnaswamy’s win reinforce the project’s alignment with the core mission of the EIT Higher Education Initiative: transforming higher education into a driver of innovation, entrepreneurship, and societal impact.

For an initiative funded by the EIT Higher Education Initiative, such recognition demonstrates how higher education can directly address Europe’s cyber skills gap by delivering training and awareness programmes that achieve both academic value and professional industry recognition.

The winners were announced at the black-tie gala dinner on 29th April 2026 at the Birmingham Metropole, and congratulations are in order for Dr. Anitha Chinnaswamy.

In the next Community article, you will get to know more Dr. Chinnaswamy, do not miss it!