VBN | VoiceBot Navy

Region:

Federal

Financed by

Resilient crisis communication for critical infrastructures

The VBN project develops a crisis communication solution designed to maintain trusted communication with citizens during critical situations, such as massive surges in messages or destabilisation attempts. Developed by Banana Navy and Sirris as part of the Belgian Defence STRIKE IT programme, the project is creating a communication channel that remains resilient to cyberattacks, with a roadmap towards a sovereign solution.

Target group

The project is primarily aimed at organisations facing challenges related to the resilience of critical communications, including:

Belgian Defence and the Belgian Cyber Force
Public authorities and public services
Critical infrastructure operators
Cybersecurity organisations
Organisations involved in crisis management

Context

During major events, communication channels can quickly become saturated by a massive influx of messages or become targets of cyberattacks. In these situations, ensuring that information remains reliable, secure and accessible is a strategic priority for public authorities.

To strengthen Belgium's digital resilience, the Belgian Defence STRIKE IT programme (Cyber Defence Factory) supports the rapid development of innovative solutions that address concrete operational cyber defence needs. VBN contributes to this initiative by developing a communication solution capable of operating under severely degraded conditions.

Objectives & results

VBN aims to develop a highly resilient crisis communication platform within a short six-month development cycle. The platform is designed to ensure continuity of communication between public authorities and citizens.

The project aims to:

Develop an infrastructure capable of withstanding cyberattacks and major traffic peaks
Demonstrate the solution's operational performance in realistic scenarios
Define a roadmap towards a sovereign solution for Belgian Defence and other critical organisations

Expected results

An operational demonstrator validating the performance of a resilient crisis communication platform, to be presented at the event at A6K
A security architecture providing robust deployment methods to withstand cyber threats and destabilisation attempts

Approach

The project follows a fast-paced and iterative six-month development methodology based on the "Triple Helix" model (Industry, Research, Defence):

Resilience design and engineering (Sirris & Banana Navy)
Joint development of the platform to ensure technical robustness and a seamless user experience during crisis-related traffic peaks
Continuous evaluation (Steering Committee)
The project is monitored through weekly meetings, monthly reviews and thematic workshops
Field validation (Defence)
Systematic integration of feedback from innovation experts and end users to ensure alignment with real operational needs

Interested in resilient crisis communication solutions?

The project results will be presented during a demonstration at A6K in Charleroi on 2 December 2026, subject to approval by the partners and funding agency.

Contact our expert Thierry Coutelier for more information