In a nutshell: Fraunhofer institutes and Globalfoundries Dresden are bringing an open RISC-V security chip into production to enhance digital sovereignty and supply-chain transparency for critical systems.
German Fraunhofer institutes have jointly developed a Secure Element based on RISC-V that builds on OpenTitan and is being brought into production by Globalfoundries in Dresden. The project addresses strategic requirements for digital sovereignty in chip manufacturing.
Multiple Fraunhofer institutes have jointly developed a Secure Element based on the publicly disclosed OpenTitan design. The system follows the RISC-V architecture, an open instruction set architecture without proprietary licensing. Manufacturing is carried out by Globalfoundries at its German site in Dresden.
For CTOs, this project represents a reduction in dependencies for security-critical chip components. To date, many Secure Element solutions are built on proprietary designs or non-transparent implementations. An open design manufactured in Germany provides transparency and eliminates geopolitical dependency risks arising from foreign chip manufacturing or closed designs.
OpenTitan is an open-source security hardware project developed by Google and sponsors, serving as a template for the implementation. Integration into German manufacturing creates supply-chain control that is increasingly expected for regulatory-relevant systems in the DACH region – particularly under NIS2 Directive requirements for critical infrastructure.
Source: www.heise.de · Published 6 July 2026
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