Open Topic for Role of the Human Factor for the Resilience of Critical Infrastructures

Scope

• The emphasis of the proposals should be on the human dependant abilities of critical infrastructure to cope with an adverse event, including their capacity to prepare for the crisis, absorb the impact, reduce the recovery time, and adapt by reducing future exposure and vulnerabilities.
• To ensure the active involvement of, and timely feedback from relevant security practitioners, proposals should plan a mid-term deliverable consisting in the assessment, performed by the practitioners involved in the project, of the project’s mid-term outcomes.
• Activities proposed within this topic should address both technological and societal dimensions of the tackled challenge in a balanced way.

Funding Information

• Budget (EUR) – Year 2025: 7 000 000
• Contributions: around 3500000

Expected Outcomes

• Projects’ results are expected to contribute to some or all of the following outcomes:
  • Critical infrastructure is more resilient to natural hazards, intentional and accidental harmful human actions, including cyber attacks;
  • Infrastructure operators and authorities have better understanding of human factor for the critical entities resilience;
  • Infrastructure operators and authorities have access to improved risk and threat assessment, and forecast;
  • Infrastructure operators and authorities have access to increased post-incident investigation capabilities contributing to better crisis prevention;
  • Insider threats are effectively tackled, including through innovative, cost-efficient systems for background checks that are in full compliance with privacy;
  • Training curricula for infrastructure operators, authorities and/or first responders are developed.

Eligibility Criteria

• Entities eligible to participate:
  • Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from nonassociated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call/topic.
  • A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
• To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding.
• To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
  • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions:
    • Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
  • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States:
    • Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe;
    • Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

For more information, visit EC.