Architecture-based governance for secure-by-design Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems

Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) involve a complex network of diverse components that communicate with each other and with their environment. These systems are essential for improving transport efficiency, enabling smoother movement of people and goods, and supporting economic growth. However, due to their highly connected nature, C-ITS face major challenges related to cybersecurity and interoperability—both of which are directly linked to safety. Managing evolving software and standards while ensuring security places a heavy burden on architects, security experts, and organizational stakeholders.

In this work, we propose a methodology to support the secure design and deployment of C-ITS systems. The approach is based on established standards and adaptable to other critical sectors, such as healthcare, energy and smart cities, but is here tailored to the specific context of the transport domain. Our main contribution is a governance-based framework for secure deployment of standards, aimed at addressing the problem of standards maintenance, interoperability, and architectural sustainability. We demonstrate its application through a real-world use case involving secure vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication.