The EU Commission launches incentives for cybersecurity

As part of the Digital Europe initiative, the European Commission has stimulated the development of cybersecurity with the announcement of six financial calls. The incentives, which amount to 84 million euros, aim to promote the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and cutting-edge technologies in Security Operation Centres, as well as advance legislative compliance on the cybersecurity front and guide migration towards cryptography systems resilient to quantum calculations.

Sectors and EU funding dedicated to IT security

The funding opportunities will cover various areas, including the use of AI to improve security operations, with a budget of 30 million euros. There will also be extensive financial support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with the aim of strengthening their cyber infrastructure in line with the Cyber Resilience Act, worth €22 million. Furthermore, a fund of 8 million euros will be allocated to tools for compliance with the dictates of this law.

Focus on post-quantum cryptography in the EU

A salient aspect of these calls is the focus on post-quantum cryptography, which is essential to prevent risks associated with future quantum computers. 22.25 million euros have been specifically allocated for the adoption of this type of encryption in industrial sectors, while other funds will support standardization and awareness on this transition, as well as help public administrations in implementing the necessary strategic roadmaps.

Participation methods and synergies

Invitations to the Digital-Eccc-2024-Deploy-Cyber-06 call can be consulted and requested via the EU funding and procurement portal. The winning projects are expected to be managed by the European Cyber Security Competence Center (ECCC) and applications are open to various entities within the EU area. Submissions are accepted from 16 January to 26 March 2024. Parallelament, the Digital Europe programme, aspires to complement investments from other EU programmes, and is focused on advanced digital skills, alongside the implementation of high performance computing, the cloud, data and AI.