The agreement is signed by Jan Künne, CEO of GRUNDIG AKADEMIE, and Group Captain P. Aanand Naidu (Retd.), Executive Director of ISAC Foundation.

The collaboration was facilitated by Frank Rajan, Advisor to ISAC Foundation, who serves as ISAC’s liaison for the agreement.

ISAC’s certifications, now in the DACH region

Under the agreement, GRUNDIG AKADEMIE becomes ISAC Foundation’s official sales, training and certification partner for the DACH market: Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The two organisations will share the work:

GRUNDIG AKADEMIE handles outreach and German-language engagement. It also registers participants, supports corporate clients and coordinates programmes in the region.
ISAC curates the programmes and provides instructors and the learning platform. It runs live training sessions, conducts proctored exams, issues certifications and maintains quality.

National Security Database® empanelment for European professionals

At the heart of the collaboration is the National Security Database® (NSD), ISAC’s global initiative for assessing, certifying and empanelling cybersecurity professionals. Certification programmes will run at foundation, intermediate, advanced and senior levels, together with ISAC’s Cyber Hygiene programme. European participants will gain a path to NSD empanelment.

ISAC’s Clean Exit programme on professional ethics will also be offered to GRUNDIG AKADEMIE’s students and clients. Both organisations will explore placement opportunities for certified professionals.

Practical skills: hackathons, red teaming and faculty development

The agreement goes beyond the classroom. The two organisations will collaborate on:

red-teaming exercises and hackathons, including an annual hackathon hosted by GRUNDIG AKADEMIE or one of its partners
bug bounty and zero-day intelligence initiatives
faculty development programmes
cybersecurity consultancy and training for government bodies, industry and other organisations

Towards Cybersecurity Centres of Excellence

The partners also intend to establish Cybersecurity Centres of Excellence, combining cyber-physical system labs with virtual labs. The first is planned for the DACH region, with other European locations to follow. Each centre will be planned and agreed separately.

Information becomes powerful when it is shared

The collaboration reflects ISAC’s founding belief: progress comes when knowledge is shared and communities act together. By combining ISAC’s certification and empanelment frameworks with GRUNDIG AKADEMIE’s educational experience and regional reach, the two organisations aim to build a stronger community of cybersecurity professionals across India and Europe.

About GRUNDIG AKADEMIE

GRUNDIG AKADEMIE für Wirtschaft und Technik is a non-profit education institution headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany. It offers professional education, technical training and organisational development for businesses and professionals. https://www.grundig-akademie.de

About ISAC Foundation

ISAC Foundation (Information Sharing and Analysis Center) is an international non-profit, with registered non-profit organisations in the United States and India. Created after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and formally established in 2011, it advances cybersecurity, digital well-being, public safety, education and research. Its National Security Database® identifies, evaluates and recognises qualified cybersecurity professionals through structured assessment, certification and empanelment.