Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The European Defence Fund (EDF) is the Commission’s initiative to support collaborative defence research and development, and to foster an innovative and competitive defence industrial base.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Previous national and EU initiatives have addressed the conceptualisation and development of technologies for the acquisition of situational awareness by focusing on the logical sub-layer of cyberspace (software, services, networks, interfaces, etc.) but there is a raising demand of military-focused solutions able to holistically understand the cyberspace as a whole, taking into account all the layers.
The proposals must focus on developing capabilities for mission-centric CySA, which as a System of Systems (SoS), must comprise independent enablers able to act jointly towards facilitating human decision-making through synergies between them.
Detailed Call Description
The proposals should address challenges in all the following areas:
- Full-spectrum cyber situational awareness:
- facilitating human decision-makers understanding of the cyberspace spectrum as a whole, including physical (hardware, geographical, Electromagnetic Spectrum, etc.), logical (software, networks, etc.) and cyber persona (Human-Machine Interfacing, cognitive, psychological, social) assets, conditionings, impacts and effects.
- Decision, command, and control support:
- identification and assessment of creative and flexible options (CO’s Areas of Operation (CoAs), countermeasures, etc.) and opportunities to accomplish missions in or through cyberspace. The proposals should bring CySA to assist decision-making under full-spectrum operational friction, including uncertainty when faced with a thinking and adaptive enemy, which may operate on conventional but also hybrid measures. CySA also facilitates understanding the effect and stress of COs on human actors;
- associating full-spectrum cyber situations and opportunities with objectives, strategies and initiatives of actors operating within the CoAs (considering features such as interest, responsibility, influence, etc.). Among others, this includes assessing the status of mission essential assets, recognition of players in the operational environment, or developing a joint Situational Awareness (SA). As part of the characterisation of the mission, all instruments of power should be taken into account (approaches such as PMESII or PESTLE). Mission Engineering (ME) may be considered with a view to help determining and analysing the composition and status of decisive cyber conditions that support or impact own missions, while assisting the assessment of opportunities on neutral/adversarial missions, centres of gravity and CoAs;
- capability orchestration enabling deployability within joint forces, and adapted to decision-makers at all war levels. This includes adapting to collaborative environments like joint and/or combined operations at the national, EU and NATO levels. Capability to dynamically adapt to the operational context in agreement with different human intervention profiles.
- Interoperability:
- the results should enable interoperability with EU-level and NATO-level C2 initiatives.
Call Total Budget
Thematic Categories
- Information and Communication Technologies
- Justice - Security
- Other Thematic Category
- Public Administration
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Central Government
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
Applications will only be considered eligible if their content corresponds wholly (or at least in part) to the topic description for which it is submitted.
Eligible participants (eligible countries) – In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)
- non-EU countries:
- listed EEA countries (‘EDF associated countries’, see list of participating countries)
- have their executive management structure established in eligible countries
- must not be subject to control by a non-associated third country or nonassociated third-country entity (unless they can provide guarantees – see Annex 2 – approved by the Member State or EDF associated country where they are established).
Associated partners which are not established in one of the eligible countries (or which are subject to control by a non-associated third country or non-associated third-country entity) may however participate exceptionally if certain conditions are fulfilled (not contravene EU and MS security and defence interests; consistent with EDF objectives; results not subject to control or restriction by non-associated third countries or non-associated third-country entities; no unauthorised access to classified information; no potential negative effects over security of supply of inputs which are critical for the project), subject to agreement by the granting authority and without any funding under the grant.
Consortium composition – For all topics under this call, proposals must be submitted by: minimum 3 independent applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from 3 different eligible countries.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Ministry of Defense
172-174 Strovolos Avenue, 2048 Strovolos, Nicosia,
website: https://mod.gov.cy/
Telephone: 22 807500
Email: defence@mod.gov.cy
Department of Research and Innovation
Phones: 22 807755, 22 807754
Email: research.innovation@mod.gov.cy
EU Contact Point
European Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS): https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/defence-industry-and-space_en
For help related to this call, please contact: DEFIS-EDF-PROPOSALS@ec.europa.eu