4. Tarnów Local Cybersecurity Centre

Tarnów is consistently developing its IT systems under the Smart City concept; however, their maintenance, updates, and effective protection require increasing financial investment and specialised expertise. The City Hall manages not only its own internal systems but also solutions used by municipal units and residents, such as the Education Management System and the Tarnów City Card. In the face of a rising number of cyberattacks and data phishing attempts, it is crucial to strengthen digital security and expand the IT team responsible for threat analysis, implementing safeguards, and upskilling administrative staff. Residents’ growing expectations for e-services necessitate immediate incident response and the application of modern data protection methods.

The response to these challenges will be the establishment of the Local Government Cyber Security Centre (SCBC) within the City Hall—a centralised unit dedicated to monitoring and protecting the IT systems of both the city and its subordinate institutions. The Centre will extend its protection beyond the City Hall to include schools and kindergartens, the Tarnów Road and Transport Authority, the Municipal Cemetery Management, and the Tarnów Information Centre. The SCBC will be responsible for continuous system monitoring, responding to cyber threats, and conducting cybersecurity education programmes for students, seniors, and administrative staff.

The Centre’s operations will be based on a modern IT infrastructure, including a high-performance server room with hardware redundancy and advanced security systems. Data virtualisation solutions will be implemented to ensure cost optimisation and business continuity. The structure will consist of a primary node in the City Hall’s server room and a separate, off-site location for backup storage. The project will be implemented in stages—starting with an asset inventory and the reinforcement of the IT staff, followed by the procurement and configuration of servers, disk arrays, and security systems, and concluding with the deployment of comprehensive monitoring tools for approximately 1,000 workstations and 50 virtual servers.

The SCBC will provide the city with a stable and secure digital environment, increase resilience to cyberattacks, and streamline IT infrastructure management. This initiative aligns with strategic objectives concerning the digitalisation of public administration and data protection, thereby enhancing public safety and the user experience of municipal services. The total value of this action is 4,493,500.00 PLN, of which 3,700,000.00 PLN is grant funding.