The ECCC (European Cybersecurity Competence Centre) is reportedly working on a Call for Proposals on artificial intelligence cybersecurity tools and countering threats from quantum computers in the draft version of their new work programme.
The ECCC was created in 2021, and aims to increase Europe’s cybersecurity capacities and competitiveness, working together with a Network of National Coordination Centres (NCCs) to build a strong cybersecurity community, and coordinating relevant calls under Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme (DEP).
The draft work programme, dated December 2024, is the centre’s first covering new DEP calls; as part of this, three annual calls are envisioned in the coming years to develop and deploy AI-based cybersecurity tools for national authorities, to better analyse, detect and prevent cyber threats. Funded projects under these calls should lead to the creation of toolkits to help SMEs manage cyber risks.
Additionally, the ECCC seems to plan to support the transition to post-quantum cryptography systems, which are resistant to attacks by quantum computers as well as classical computers.
The work programme also plans to support the implementation of the Cyber Solidarity Act, which the EU adopted last year to better detect, prepare and respond to cyber threats across the continent. The Cyber Solidarity Act aims to strgthen capacities in the EU to detect, prepare for and respond to significant and large scale cybersecurity threats and attacks.
The 2025 cybersecurity calls are currently due to open in the first half of the year, and close in the second half, with evaluations coming in early 2026. The exact dates are yet to be confirmed.
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