Poland has opened a new funding stream for local governments to build shared cybersecurity operations centres, with PLN 270 million available for at least 30 projects. The first call for applications under the Local Cybersecurity Centres programme starts on Friday, 31 July 2026.
The initiative is a direct response to the growing number of attacks on municipal networks. Data released by the Ministry of Digitisation in July show that local government units were hit by 3,249 incidents in 2025, an increase of about 60 percent compared with the previous year.
Under the scheme, two or more municipalities, counties or voivodeships may form a consortium and apply for funding for training, hardware, threat detection and analysis tools, and modernisation of infrastructure. The centres are intended to have a supra-regional character, enabling smaller authorities to pool resources rather than build their own costly security operations centres.
Cost-sharing model for smaller communes
– Local Cybersecurity Centres will be created in at least 30 locations. We will allocate about PLN 270 million for their establishment. Local government units will be able to set them up by joining forces in partnerships and consortia – announced Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digitisation Krzysztof Gawkowski.
– This solution will make it possible to protect local administration more effectively and build digital resilience where it is most needed. It is another milestone for strengthening the cybersecurity of the state and citizens – assessed Deputy Minister of Digitisation Paweł Olszewski.
– The basis of the programme is employee training, because that is always the weakest link in the cybersecurity system – he added.
Asked why around 30 such centres are planned, Gawkowski said the conclusions from earlier programmes pointed to the need for integration, knowledge exchange and competence building among municipalities and counties. Olszewski described the planned units as local SOCs, or Security Operations Centres, and called them another step for cybersecurity.
Funding and application details
The programme is financed from the European Funds for Digital Development 2021-2027 and is being carried out by the Digital Poland Projects Centre. Local government partnerships have until 30 October 2026 to submit applications for co-financing.
This is the government’s next local-level initiative after Cyberbezpieczny Samorząd, a programme with a budget of about PLN 1.5 billion that was recently criticised by the Supreme Audit Office, and Cyberbezpieczne Wodociągi, which offers a total pool of PLN 600 million.
Running a 24/7 SOC costs about PLN 1.5-2 million per year, an amount that usually exceeds the capacity of a single municipality. By creating consortia, local authorities can share those costs, build expert competences, exchange knowledge and develop joint procedures.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. Paweł Supernak / PAP
