06/01/2026
🚀Launching the Pilot Phase: Upskilling SME Cyber Security Change Agents
We are pleased to announce the start of the piloting phase of our project, a key milestone in implementing the common European concept for upskilling SME Cyber Security Change Agents.
What the pilot will involve
During this phase, each project partner will implement a national pilot, engaging a total of 80 SME employees from 8 countries. The pilot is designed to translate our shared methodology into real practice and to test how the training responds to the concrete needs of small and medium-sized enterprises across different contexts.
Local and regional SME and stakeholder networks play a central role in this phase. They support:
outreach and communication with SMEs,
planning and organisation of training activities, and
delivery of tailored, high-quality upskilling adapted to local realities.
This approach ensures relevance, accessibility, and strong employer engagement.
Testing training modules and collecting feedback
All training modules have been developed and translated into local languages, enabling smooth implementation in each country. During the pilot, these modules will be actively tested by SME employees to:
assess clarity, relevance, and usability of the content,
gather participant and trainer feedback, and
identify opportunities for improvement before wider rollout.
Feedback collected during the pilot will directly inform the refinement and finalisation of the modules.
Study pathways, career pathways, and skills recognition
The pilot also validates the study pathways that were designed based on:
an in-depth analysis of SME cybersecurity needs, and
aligned curricula prepared for HEI and VET learners.
These study pathways form the foundation for clearly defined career pathways, structured around four core competency areas:
Technical skills
Analytical skills
Risk management skills
Organisational skills
As part of the piloting, partners will produce documentation and evidence enabling stakeholders to assess how skills are recognised and validated, in line with the assessment plan and structure developed in WP3, including alignment with ESCO and micro-credentials frameworks.
Teaching formats and module structure
The pilot will also test a flexible teaching approach, with modules delivered through different formats (e.g. workshops, blended learning, and online sessions), allowing partners to adapt delivery to SME time constraints and learning preferences.
Each module follows a clear structure, including:
defined learning outcomes,
varied teaching and learning methods, and
specified workload hours, ensuring transparency and comparability across countries.
Why this piloting phase matters
By starting with piloting, we ensure that the training offer is:
practical and SME-oriented,
responsive to real-world cybersecurity challenges, and
robust in terms of skills recognition and career development.
The pilot phase is a crucial step in turning a shared European concept into a tested, evidence-based, and scalable solution for strengthening cybersecurity capacity in SMEs.
Stay tuned as we move forward with implementation and share insights, lessons learned, and results from the pilot activities across Europe.
