The final event of the European project in which SCS is a partner took place on 21 May in Paris. The day was an opportunity to celebrate the results of the SecurIT project and the three years of collaboration between the clusters that enabled 95 SMEs to develop innovative security solutions for safer and more resilient cities and territories!
The event brought together the partners of the SecurIT consortium, most of the 42 funded collaborative and innovative projects, as well as representatives of the European Commission and several security specialists.
The first part of the day was devoted to a comprehensive review of SecurIT, highlighting the results and achievements of the projects funded. SecurIT in a few figures:
- 8 European partners
- 42 funded projects (28 demonstrations et 14 prototypes)
- 95 beneficiary SMEs
- 23 countries represented
- 3.5M€ distributed to SMEs (from 74 to 88 k€ per project)
Through their presentations, representatives from ANSSI, EISMEA, DG HOME and DG GROW (European Commission) explored opportunities for European funding and collaboration in the fields of security and digital innovation.
The Belgian cluster LSEC – Leaders in Security, a SecurIT partner, then presented the European CYSSME project, of which it is the coordinator, and which is an excellent example of post-SecurIT collaboration between funded companies and members of the SecurIT consortium. This shows that the SecurIT project has made an important contribution to the creation of strong synergies between security actors in Europe, with a special emphasis on end-user involvement, but that the project has also been a springboard for some SMEs to other European projects and funding.
The panel discussion, which brought together representatives from ENGIE, Orange, ESCO (European Cyber Security Organisation), EACTDA (European Anti-Cybercrime Technology Development Association), The Hague Security Delta and RAN (The Resilience Advisors Network), focused on end-users, their role in the development of new innovative security solutions and how to connect them to businesses.
SecurIT Awards ceremony
The day ended with the SecurIT awards ceremony, where six promising projects were rewarded for the development of their innovative solutions (financial prizes ranging from €7,500 to €10,000 per project).
The winning projects in the four categories are as follows:
Open Call 1
Open Call 2
- Demonstration : OPTIMIZ NETWORK & EV-SAFE
- Prototype : ERMINE
The awards ceremony highlighted the relevance of cascade financing schemes (of which SecurIT is a part) for SMEs, as a means of validating and deploying innovative technological PoCs in a collaborative manner.
The company Ezako, member of SCS, and its Spanish partner Mion Technologies were among the lucky winners, rewarded for their project VASCREEN.
This project, funded by the first open call launched by SecurIT, led to the development of a prototype of an innovative solution for detecting potential threats in baggage and goods at checkpoints. The technology used analyses the vapors surrounding objects, enabling non-intrusive detection that is faster, cheaper and broader (chemical, biological and explosive threats, including emerging threats) than the techniques traditionally used at airports and checkpoints. The project partners have achieved greater detection sensitivity, reduced the weight of the prototype from 50 kg to 25 kg, making the solution easier to use, and cut processing time from several hours to a few seconds, while achieving a detection rate of over 70%. Major development prospects for the VASCREEN project are taking shape at European level, both for the next phases of technological development of the system and for the commercial development of the solution.
Congratulations to Ezako!
