Call for Proposals: Strengthening the SOC Ecosystem

Objectives

• This topic complements other actions in this and the previous Work Programme, which are building up National SOCs and Cross-Border SOC platforms. This should in particular foster interoperability, identifying what data can be shared, how this is shared and in what format, requirements and sharing agreements, and ways to enable better exchange.
• Links to the actions funded under the Cybersecurity Skills Academy (in the main Digital Europe work programme) can also be envisaged.
• These actions should lead to increased engagement, including from the private sector, and to a better collaboration towards a common EU cyber threat knowledge base and technological independence.
• Additionally, Cross-Border SOC Platforms will develop a comprehensive governance framework, with for example enrolment conditions and vetting procedures. The aim is to foster discussion between such platforms, sharing best practices and identifying opportunities for collaboration.

Scope

• Actions should address one or more of the following:
  • Activities and technical frameworks that foster the collaboration and interconnection between Cross-Border SOC platforms and National SOCs, as well as fostering the link between National SOCs and other SOCs at national level.
  • Actions that support the cooperation and coordination of Cross-Border SOC platforms, both between different Cross-Border SOC platforms, and with relation to national SOCs and other SOCs.
  • Actions to foster links between public sector and industry, and stimulate mutually beneficial exchange of information, tools and data as well as exchange of knowledge and training opportunities.
  • Actions to foster links between SOCs and industrial stakeholders in artificial intelligence and in other enabling technologies, fostering the adoption of such technologies, including AI techniques and tools rand facilitating getting acquainted with existing state of the art tools and knowledge exchange.
  • Actions to engage stakeholders from the HPC stakeholder community and practitioners of breakthrough AI technologies, to develop a blueprint for the requirements of AI models that necessitate access to large or smaller HPC facilities, and next steps to make this happen, as well as raising awareness of this in the wider SOC community.

Funding Information

• Amount available: EUR 2.000.000

Outcomes

• Events, workshops, stakeholder consultations, architectural designs and white papers on technical coordination and interconnection support platforms.
• Stronger links between public sector and industry SOCs
• Technical frameworks to allow for information exchange between SOC platforms
• A blueprint for the use of HPC facilities for the benefit of SOCs

Eligibility Criteria

• 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))
    • EEA countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein)

For more information, visit European Commission.