An Estonian research project on the technical aspects and threat vectors of cyber hygiene has been awarded co-funding (70%) under the main ESIF: the European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF).
This 300,000 Euro applied research project is the first stage of a wider 3 million Euro project. The Estonian project holder, the Small-and-Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) CYBEXER TECHNOLOGIES OÜ, is a Tallinn-based joint company that will also provide the required ‘match funding’ (i.e. 30% of the total project). The TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, at the origin of the project idea, will also benefit from the ERDF co-funding.
Following EDA’s procedure in 2015 requesting Member States’ Ministries of Defence to identify and propose promising dual-use R&T projects, this Estonian project was selected by EDA to benefit from EDA free-of-charge technical assistance aimed at maximising its chance to access ESIF. As usual, flexibility has been key to success: under EDA’s free-of-charge technical support, the original project has undergone decisive adaptations. Like in the previous pilot case awarded in Portugal in 2016, EDA’s methodology addressing ERDF within the current multiannual financial framework running till 2020 has again proved to be successful.
Above mentioned Estonian and Portuguese successful cases add to earlier two EDA-supported dual-use R&T projects, another Portuguese and a Polish, both co-funded too, under a first EDA support process launched in 2013.
EDA has also recently launched a similar assistance process focusing on access to the second main fund among ESIF, the European Social Fund (ESF), in support of key skills and competencies for defence (KSC). Under this procedure [“ESF4KSC”], MoDs may forward to EDA (by the 18th of September 2017) KSC-related projects collected nationally from stakeholders.
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