Filter Search for grants
Call Navigation
Call key data
Development and Deployment of Advanced Key Technologies
Funding Program
Digital Europe
Call number
DIGITAL-ECCC-2024-DEPLOY-CYBER-07-KEYTECH
deadlines
Opening
04.07.2024
Deadline
21.01.2025 17:00
Funding rate
50% (SME/KMU 75%)
Call budget
€ 35,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
between € 3,000,000.00 and € 5,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
Breakthroughs in Key Digital Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (including generative AI and adversarial AI), Big Data Analytics, Quantum, Blockchain Technology, High Performance Computing and Software-Defined Networking, create new opportunities for advancing cybersecurity in the areas of vulnerability detection, threat detection and rapid response, reducing the window of opportunity for attackers to exploit these vulnerabilities. Furthermore, they may enable new possibilities to protect data security and privacy. The objective is to enable European cybersecurity actors to take advantage of these new breakthroughs, improving detection and prevention capabilities, efficiency, scalability, and facilitating data sharing and regulatory compliance.
Call objectives
In particular innovative technologies should allow for the processing of larger amounts of data, automating real-time pattern recognition, log analysis, vulnerability scanning, while enabling security professionals to focus on higher level interpretation of data and response decisions. They should allow organisations to deploy solutions and larger scale, and in increasingly complex environments.
A priority is to create and strengthen capacity for original Cyber Threat Information (CTI), e.g., in the form of CTI feeds or services.
Activities should fortify cybersecurity capabilities using breakthrough technologies, encompassing various aspects of cybersecurity. This involves uptake and integration for the deployment of novel tools, systems and services for threat detection, incident response, malware defence, vulnerability management, data protection and so forth. In one or more of the following topics should be addressed:
- Real-time Monitoring and Incident Response: ensuring the swift identification and response to security incidents through continuous network monitoring, alert generation, and automated response mechanisms.
- Malware Defence and Analysis: mitigating malware threats by analysing code behaviour, scrutinizing network traffic, and assessing file characteristics, thereby reducing opportunities for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities.
- Proactive Vulnerability Management: identifying and addressing weaknesses proactively through automated vulnerability scanning and penetration testing to address potential threats before they can be exploited.
- Data Protection and Anomaly Detection: safeguarding sensitive data by scrutinizing access patterns and identifying abnormal behaviour to mitigate data breaches and protect critical information.
- Incident investigation to help uncover cause, scope and impact of security incidents or breaches that have occurred.
- Data Utilisation with Privacy: enabling organisations to harness data for analysis and insights while preserving data security and privacy through techniques such as anonymisation and de-identification.
By addressing such issues, the cybersecurity resilience of organisations should be enhanced, improving overall cybersecurity posture, encompassing various aspects such as threat detection, incident response, and vulnerability management.
In well justified cases, access requests to the EuroHPC high performance computing infrastructure could be granted.
The systems, tools and services developed under this topic, where relevant, will be made available for licencing to National and/or Cross-Border SOC platforms under favourable market conditions.
This action aims at the deployment of key technologies in cybersecurity, in particular also in the context of securing national authorities, providers of critical infrastructures and essential services. As this involves the handling of cyber incidents, malware and management of vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious actors, the deployment of such technologies must be protected against possible dependencies and vulnerabilities in cybersecurity to pre-empt foreign influence and control.
As previously noted, participation of non-EU entities entails the risk of highly sensitive information about security infrastructure, risks and incidents being subject to legislation or pressure that obliges those non-EU entities to disclose this information to non-EU governments, with an unpredictable security risk. Therefore, based on the outlined security reasons, the actions relating to these technologies are subject to Article 12(5) of Regulation (EU) 2021/694.
read more
Expected results
- Deployment of state-of-the-art technologies in the area of cybersecurity
- Tools for automated threat detection, monitoring of networks, data protection and incident response
Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Iceland (Ísland), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Liechtenstein, Montenegro (Црна Гора), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна)
eligible entities
Education and training institution, 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
No
Project Partnership
Submissions from consortia, despite not mandatory, will positively contribute to the impact of the action.
The target stakeholders are technology companies, especially SMEs, working to provide and support other private and public organisations with cyber threat detection and CTI feeds.
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be:
- legal entities (public or private bodies)
- established in one of the eligible countries:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Digital Europe Programme (list of participating countries)
Specific cases:
Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of self-employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person).
International organisations — International organisations are not eligible, unless they are International organisations of European Interest within the meaning of Article 2 of the Digital Europe Regulation (i.e. international organisations the majority of whose members are Member States or whose headquarters are in a Member State).
EU bodies — EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium.
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 for the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.
Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’.
other eligibility criteria
Please be aware that all topics of this call are subject to restrictions due to security, therefore entities must not be directly or indirectly controlled from a country that is not an eligible country.
All entities will have to fill in and submit a declaration on ownership and control.
Moreover:
- participation in any capacity (as beneficiary, affiliated entity, associated partner, subcontractor or recipient of financial support to third parties) is limited to entities established in and controlled from eligible countries
- project activities (included subcontracted work) must take place in eligible countries (see section geographic location below and section 10)
- the Grant Agreement may provide for IPR restrictions (see section 10).
Finally, for the topics DIGITAL-ECCC-2024-DEPLOY-CYBER-07-SOC and DIGITAL ECCC-2024-DEPLOY-CYBER-07-SOCPLAT grants will only be awarded to applicants that have succeeded the evaluation of the joint procurement action.
Financial Support to Third Parties is not allowed.
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)
project duration
36 months
Additional Information
Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funding & 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 the requested information and all required annexes and supporting documents:
- Application Form Part A — contains administrative information about the participants (future coordinator, beneficiaries and affiliated entities) and the summarised budget for the project (to be filled in directly online)
- Application Form Part B — contains the technical description of the project (to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded)
- Mandatory annexes and supporting documents (to be uploaded):
- detailed budget table/calculator:
Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funding & 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 the requested information and all required annexes and supporting documents:
- Application Form Part A — contains administrative information about the participants (future coordinator, beneficiaries and affiliated entities) and the summarised budget for the project (to be filled in directly online)
- Application Form Part B — contains the technical description of the project (to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded)
- Mandatory annexes and supporting documents (to be uploaded):
- detailed budget table/calculator: not applicable
- CVs of core project team: not applicable
- activity reports of last year: not applicable
- list of previous projetcts: not applicable
- ownership control declarations (including for associated partners and subcontractors): applicable
- Other annex: for Topic DIGITAL-ECCC-2024-DEPLOY-CYBER-07-SOC the appointment decision from the Member State designating the entity to act as National SOC: applicable
- detailed budget table/calculator:
Proposals are limited to maximum 70 pages (Part B).
Call documents
Cal document DIGITAL-ECCC-2024-DEPLOY-CYBER-07Cal document DIGITAL-ECCC-2024-DEPLOY-CYBER-07(665kB)
Contact
Website
To see more information about this call, you can register for free here
or log in with an existing account.
Log in
Register now