ECHO delivers an organized and coordinated approach to improve proactive cyber defence of the European Union, through effective and efficient multi-sector collaboration. The Partners will execute on a 48-month work plan to develop, model and demonstrate a network of cyber research and competence centres, with a central competence at the hub. The Central Competence Hub serves as the focal point for the ECHO Multi-sector Assessment Framework enabling multi-sector dependencies management, provision of an ECHO Early Warning System, an ECHO Federation of Cyber Ranges and management of an expanding collection of Partner Engagements. The ECHO Multi-sector Assessment Framework refers to the analysis of challenges and opportunities derived from sector specific use cases, transversal cybersecurity needs analysis and development of inter-sector Technology Roadmaps involving horizontal cybersecurity disciplines. The Early Warning System, Federation of Cyber Ranges and Inter-sector Technology Roadmaps will then be subject of Demonstration Cases incorporating relevant involvement of inter-dependent industrial sectors. The ECHO Cyber-skills Framework provides the foundation for development of cybersecurity education and training programmes including a common definition of transversal and inter-sector skills and qualifications needed by cybersecurity practitioners. The ECHO Cybersecurity Certification Scheme provides a sector specific and inter-sector process for cybersecurity certification testing of new technologies and products resulting from the proposed technology roadmaps. The project will develop and operate under an ECHO Governance Model, by which the efforts across the EU Network of Cybersecurity Competence Centres can be coordinated and optimized to provide lasting and sustainable excellence in cybersecurity skills development; research and experimentation; technology roadmaps delivery; and certified security products for improved cybersecurity resilience.

The underlyingassumption of the project proposal, in line with the UN Security Council recommendations (Resolution n. 2178, September 2014) and the Commission “European Agenda on Security”2015-2020(28.4.2015, COM(2015) 185 final), is that in order to contrast successfully violent extremism,what is neededis a more balanced response to terrorism,combining repressive (protective) measures with preventive measures, in a comprehensive approach in collaboration withactors of civil society and the communitiesof reference, based on a firm commitment to respecting fundamental rights, promoting integration, cultural dialogue and fighting discrimination. To this end, a better understanding of factors constituting violent radicalisation in Europe is needed, which aims,through a multidisciplinary analysis,to a comprehensive view of the phenomenon, investigatingits root causes, in order to develop appropriate countermeasures, ranging from early detection methodologies to strategies, ways and techniques of counter-narrative, involving LEAs together with experts and civil society actors at local, national and European level. In addition, it is necessary to acknowledge that violent radicalization,especially in the case of jihadist extremism,goesmainly through narratives that: have specific characteristics and contents; use specific communication codes;are addressed to specific audiences; and spread in a multitude of ways, over the Internet, as well as by means of in-person communication exchanges that take place in families, schools, places of worship, local communities, etc. These narratives havebeen proven effective towards vulnerable groups such as young people, detainees, and people craving for revenge after having experienced what they perceive as injustices, either at personal or group level. Furthermore, due to this multifarious background, such extremism is characterised by single or group terrorist acts also reflecting a variety of influences and motivational dr

The number of drones in commercial and recreational use is expected to grow significantly within the next years. Currently the most dynamic market is in low flying remotely piloted and autonomous aerial vehicles. In 2016 the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published three different categories of such drones: an open category, a specific category and a certified category. The MoNIfly project (Mobile-Network Infrastructure for Cooperative Surveillance of Low Flying Drones) targets the open and specific categories by proposing a drone traffic management system based on mobile network infrastructure. The main challenge will be the acceptance of low flying devices by the general public. Therefore innovative solutions must be found, developed and demonstrated to allow safe and society friendly as well as aviation-harmonized drone operations. The MoNIfly concept will enable applications with virtual barriers (so-called geo fence applications) that use static databases as well as high-dynamic update rates to support moving vehicles. This means that the risk of collisions of drones with static obstacles but also other drones or aircraft/helicopters will be greatly reduced. Additionally this concept will allow protection of privacy sensitive areas like private houses/gardens or even scenes of an accident or incident. Another area of operation could be the TV market where during sports events the target of interest (e.g. downhill skier or car racer) would be protected by a fast moving geo-fenced area. The MoNIfly consortium consists of a Mobile Infrastructure provider (Nokia), a drone manufacturer (Aerial Tronics Group), a drone operator (UAV International) and two universities (Royal Military Academy Brussels and TU Braunschweig) with excellent background in current air traffic management and drone operations. The project aims to develop the applications described above and will demonstrate their feasibility in a relevant environment. The goal is to enhance the technology readiness level (TRL) from 2 (technology concept formulated) to a TRL of 4 (technology validated in lab) or 5 (technology validated in relevant environment).