Let’s give the floor to SecurIT funded SMEs : read directly from Open Call 2 funded SMEs about their projects and their contributions towards more resilient, secure and smarter cities !
Several projects partners whose activities got funded under the 2nd Open Call were interviewed during the Kick off Meeting organised in Vilnius in early July 2023. Excerpts of those discussions are being exposed in this new SecurIT release.
Discover every Open Call 2 funded project here.
1° SecurIT Challenges solved & End user involvement
Among the 3 SecurIT domains funded projects chose one in particular or sometimes addressed two or three of them.
Within the 1st domain projects work toward better protected critical infrastructures, for instance water distribution systems : “treatment, tanks, distribution to the user. We need to secure communications of telemetric data between those phases and within the water monitoring”. (FLOWGUARD project representative).
Solutions tackling wildfire challenges contribute to the second SecurIT domain : disaster resilience. As an example, the SYLVIACARE solution “is designed to work 24 hours a day, all year round, in all weather conditions” and aims at “a better and more precise knowledge of the forest by sharing local environmental data : Data can then be used to adapt silvicultural practices and anticipate risky wildfire periods.” (SYLVIACARE project representative).
Projects addressing the third domain, like SAFE FESTIVALS among others, contribute to protect public spaces during large events. Here a “simulation platform […] will improve the safety and the security of festivals by providing better training for security actors, increasing awareness among local stakeholders, reducing costs and improving replicability, while promoting continuous learning and improvement.” (SAFE FESTIVALS project representative).
Finally, REBRINET is a project that matches both domains 2 and 3 : “by involving citizens the project seeks to bridge the gap between communities and response organizations. Through a centralized system with citizen input, we’ll achieve seamless data aggregation, ensuring crucial information reaches the right channels promptly.” (REBRINET project representative).
2° Showcasing collaborative initiatives between SMEs throughout Europe, and even abroad
The importance of the project varies from one SME to another. Some of the projects will be extending the capacity of an already existing solution to apply it to new use cases. Some others draw from each partner’s expertise in given areas to build something new by integrating knowledge and technological blocks together.
It is the case for the ERRATA project partners :
“We already excel in different technologies, such as IoT, robotics and Satellite communications, but working together is really important because we can create a unique solution. We integrate all these technologies in a product that could be of use in different industries. It is also important for another reason, because we are entering a new market, as we have not worked in the security market before.” (ERRATA project representative).
This was also the case for the CMD project partners. Working together was a logical step for them, but SecurIT gave them the opportunity to do so : “Our partner […] is someone we have been talking to for several months and we have always wanted to build a solution together because our products are complementary and provide an effective response to known problems. We’ve known about this complementary nature for a long time and we were looking for an opportunity to work together […]. [SecurIT] was the opportunity to launch a project that we had wanted to do together for a long time.” (CMD project representative).
The support of external counterparts is also crucial for the post-development phases and the adoption by end users. ERMINE project representatives who “had a third partner […] from Bulgaria” highlighted it in their statement : “we got a letter of support by the local development agency that deals with disaster management so we will be able to speak with end-users in Bulgaria, we will get access to their data from the disasters, so in this way we will make sure that the solution can be applied in at least three countries, in Turkey, Bulgaria and Estonia and hopefully all over the world.” (ERMINE project representative).
3° Next steps : exploitation of the results
Project leading SMEs are usually the ones working the most on the exploitation whereas other SME partners will benefit from those projects to reach other applications as well as international markets.
“The applications are enormous because it can be used to measure anything !”, says one of the ServAL Management project partner. “We are using it -a Little Alert Box- to measure radioactivity, but we can measure volatile organic compounds, temperature, humidity, hygrometry, so it can be used for a whole range of things, from forest fires to measuring water levels and flooding.” (SERVAL MANAGEMENT project representative).
Same thing within the WUI-Secure project, as partners are hoping to develop their solution towards other purposes than wildfire propagation modelling : “Tecnosylva doesn’t yet do this in Europe with high accuracy. Our hope is that this project will be adaptable to other places beyond our case studies after the SecurIT framework.” (WUI-SECURE project representative).
4° Overall impact on both general public and professional practices
SecurIT is also a way to engage SMEs in the building process of trustworthy and resilient solutions for a better and safer future, whether for European professionals or citizens. The INVISIBUBL project for instance is trying to “break the cloud monopoly of the 3 hyperscalers ruling in Europe. We all know who these 3 are -AWS, Microsoft, Google-. We want to use the superpower of the EU that is regulation. […] your personal or company data shouldn’t be owned by three players who are not European and are subject to foreign extraterritorial regulation. We feel that you as an individual or as a company should decide where and how your data is stored and what is being done with it, what kinds of services run down there. Data ownership is key.” (INVISIBUBL project representative).
SecurIT funded activities like the AI DISASTER EMERGENCY COM project also draw from existing European security standards to make the interventions of first responders easier : “Our aim, from a European point of view, is to advocate with the European Emergency Number Association […] the emergency text messaging system […]. We want to make this a much more global application, one that can be integrated into the existing system.” (AI DISASTER EMERGENCY COM project representative).
RESPO-C is working on the implementation of “a secure way both for citizens to reach out to first responders and for first responders to get the information from citizens.”. Realising that “there is not really a solution and especially not in one application where you have all the information and combined real time data with secured transmission”, the project partners are working on a integrated, stock solution. (RESPO-C project representative).
SecurIT support overall (FUMs, funding scheme, etc.)?
Each SecurIT partner has 3 projects per open call to carefully monitor and support. Depending on the technological focus, domain of application or nationality of SME project partners, a SecurIT partner will have more or less difficulties in the follow up process.
SAVE THE DATE : SecurIT Final Event and SecurIT Awards
As the project is to be over in August 2024, SecurIT partners are planning to host the Final Event in Paris, on May 21st 2024. Come to the Final Event and meet the whole SecurIT community. Keynotes, panel discussions, networking moments and the opportunity to take part in other international security and tech events are waiting for you !
All projects will compete one last time to win the SecurIT Awards. The 3 best projects of each funding batch will receive lump sum prizes granted during SecurIT Final Event to support them even more in the development of their solutions.
Stay tuned on social media and subscribe to SecurIT Newsletter to be aware of the final programme as well as SecurIT Awards Nominees !