About
As cyberattacks surge across Europe, the need to strengthen cybersecurity innovation is more pressing than ever, particularly in Eastern and Central European regions where vulnerabilities remain high. With this in mind, Horizon Europe funded SECURE-NET project targets Czechia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Ukraine, aiming to strengthen their cybersecurity research and innovation. Bringing together partners from academia, business, and government, the project will create a framework for cross-sector staff exchanges and skill development. Supporting research talents with both specialised knowledge and transferable skills, the project seeks to enhance employability and speed up the transformation of scientific discoveries into practical cybersecurity solutions. Ultimately, SECURE-NET fosters cross-border collaboration and raises the international standing of its partners.
The overarching objective of the project is to improve the research and innovation capabilities in cybersecurity of Estonia, Czechia, Lithuania, and Ukraine by enhancing cross-sectoral collaboration and improving the training of R&I talents. To achieve this objective, SECURE-NET brings together eight organizations from the said countries (four academic, three businesses, and one governmental organization) which will be supported by three partners from the Netherlands (two academic and one business entity).
SECURE-NET will:
- develop a comprehensive framework for cross-sectoral staff secondments and R&I talents’ skill development;
- provide 31 R&I talents from partner organizations with domain-specific knowledge and transferable skills in IP and technology transfer (with 27 secondees coming from widening countries and 22 secondees being early-career researchers or in junior positions);
- strengthen cross-sectoral and cross-border collaboration between partners;
- enhance the international profile and visibility of the partners.
As a result, SECURE-NET will contribute to better employability and career prospects for R&I talents and help overcome a lack of translation of scientific results into innovations. The latter is crucial to ensure that the European Union catches up with other regions in terms of innovation output. Moreover, given the significant increase in both the variety and quantity of cyberattacks and their consequences in the EU as whole, but in Eastern and Eastern Central Europe in particular, SECURE-NET is as timely as ever and will help safeguard the smooth operation of our highly digitized societies.