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Call key data
Ensuring the safety, resilience and security of waterborne digital systems
Call number
HORIZON-CL5-2024-D6-01-10
deadlines
Opening
07.05.2024
Deadline
05.09.2024 17:00
Funding rate
100%
Call budget
€ 8,500,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
€ 4,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
Projects should develop smart digital and connected systems to ensure safe and efficient operation.
Call objectives
Increasingly, modern waterborne transport relies upon smart digital and connected systems to ensure safe and efficient operation. Within large complex vessels, system of systems approaches are used together with Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence approaches to integrate diverse systems ranging from sensors, business and cargo management systems, power and engine management, electronic navigation and situational awareness. System integration of systems with proprietary digital control systems has become more and more critical in terms of ensuring safety and efficiency. The complexity and foundation upon software, makes assurance of the resilience of such systems challenging and requires a different to that applied to hardware- based systems. Waterborne digital system can be vulnerable to both malicious intervention and the consequences of system failure. Examples have included the spoofing of navigational GPS signals, ransom wear attacks on integrated container management systems, complete power shutdown and the helicopter evacuation of a large passenger ship when engine protection systems identified a common fault across all engine waterborne systems. The challenge to assure the safety and resilience of digital systems is particularly important within large complex vessels where the level of integration and connectivity is high and where the consequences of failure can be particularly severe.
In the domain of power generation and management the vastness of new technological solutions, often driven by environmental regulations, poses new challenges in ships’ design and management, where the need for integration of diverse energy converters (ICEs, batteries, fuel cells, wind, capacitors, etc.) confront designers and operators with systems based on profoundly different operating principles coming together with different requirements and control and digital systems. Integration for harnessing the full potential in a safe and secure frame is key to their implementation.
Furthermore, the capability of integrating different systems (and their dynamics) involve an always increased number of sensors, whose data, fused, should become available for optimisation and increased awareness during normal and safe critical operations.
Comprehensive HAZOP (Hazard Operability) studies are essential for such vessels, yet the methodologies are poorly established within the waterborne sector whilst other sectors operating safety critical digital systems (aerospace, nuclear, medical automotive etc.) have well established practices. Furthermore, applying “hardware in the loop” to simulation and validation of digital systems in dependent on the quality of the digital simulation model. This can be difficult for waterborne transport due to the variability of ship designs, complexity and lack of relevant data concerning the integrated components. Pre-delivery testing and sea trials could include fault simulation and digital testing founded upon the identification of critical digital systems identified by the HAZOP, yet such trials focus on hard-ware or subsystems such as rudder control rather than addressing the entire integration. For safety critical systems, reliability regimes need to be established to identify the safe default state in case of system failure or the identification of malicious intervention. In this respect the best system state could be: “fail operational”, “fail soft”, “fail safe”, “fail secure”, “fail passive”, “be fault tolerant”.
Activities will address the development of a HAZOP methodology for whole system assessment of highly digitised, connected complex vessels. The methodology should include system, system of systems designed for specific function or sets of functions and/or a methodology for the entire vessel, including when application of artificial intelligence algorithms is foreseen. The methodology will be developed with relevant stakeholders including shipbuilders, system designers and equipment providers, IT professionals, operators, class societies, regulators. The acceptability of the methodology to all stakeholders will be assessed and an implementation roadmap will be developed to account for any identified barriers. Work will draw upon the expertise of other sectors with more developed procedures for the assessment and assurance of digital safety.
On-board systems and functions integration by design, for safe and secure operation should be used to test and demonstrate the safety and security of the applications.
The developed methodology will be applied to a representative complex highly digitised vessel, safety critical systems and functions will be identified, and appropriate reliability regimes and mitigation measures will be established with consideration of both malicious intervention and system failure.
Cost effective methodologies for validating the safety, resilience and correct functioning of digital and connected safety critical ship systems, including system of systems, will be developed and demonstrated.
- In case of validation on the basis of a theoretical digital models and/or digital twinning (e.g. hardware in the loop) then the validity of the model should be proven as well as its flexibility to be applied towards a range of vessel designs.
- In case of validation on the basis of physical testing of the responses of the final system to a range of fault conditions and malicious interventions during the final trials, there should be assurance that test conditions are representative of the identified risks.
Guidance should be produced and disseminated concerning the recommended methodology for assuring the safety and resilience of complex digitalised and connected shipping.
The safety assessment should be developed by using methodologies suitable for being assessed in international fora such as the International Maritime Organisation.
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Expected results
Project outputs and results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes:
- Increased safety and resilience of waterborne digital systems, including system of systems and their functions and considering both malicious intervention and system failure with particular regard to the application of artificial intelligence methodologies, networks of sensors and the onshore on-board communications.
- Improved system design addressing human factors issues in the changing levels of human/automated system interactions
- Assurance of the resilience, safety and security of waterborne digital and connected systems is undertaken on the basis of robust methodologies to a similar standard to that applied within other sectors which apply safety critical digital technology and their application in safety critical conditions including the safety of navigation and its systems.
- Robust by design waterborne digital and connected systems for safety and resilience (incl. reliability regimes such as fail safe, fail secure, fail to operation etc., HAZOP, system of systems, security, hardware and equipment data, etc.)
- Methodologies to enable effective HAZOP analysis and validation of waterborne digital systems are developed and disseminated, increasing the use of common approaches, also when using artificial intelligence applications.
- Increased software safety (incl. functional analysis and reliability assessment).
- Increased cyber security for operation and maintenance (incl. software maintenance).
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Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan), Belarus (Беларусь), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), Morocco (المغرب), New Zealand (Aotearoa), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom
eligible entities
Education and training institution, International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
- third countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries
Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:
- at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
- at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.
Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
Specific cases:
- Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
- Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
- Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
- EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
- Joint Research Centre (‘JRC’)— Where provided for in the specific call conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.
- Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible.
other eligibility criteria
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 5-6 by the end of the project.
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
Additional Information
All proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc.
The application form will have two parts:
- Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
- Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.
Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).
The limit for a full application (Part B) is 45 pages.
Call documents
HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 5, Destination 6HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 5, Destination 6(747kB)
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