Deadline: 23-Nov-21
The European Commission (EC) is pleased to launch the Improved access to fighting crime and terrorism research data.
This issue is generally present in any research area, but it gets more emphasised in the, e.g., security, health or defence domain due to the special categories of data involved and the sensitivity of the domain, which calls for additional requirements to access to real datasets or the creation of representative datasets at a national level.
In EU-funded projects, in the area of FCT, the problem of having a scientifically satisfactory amount of up-to-date high-quality and realistic data needed to develop reliable (digital and non-digital – e.g., detection and/or qualification of explosives, drugs, DNA traces) tools in support of Police Authorities becomes even more complex.
Namely, training and testing data sets considered legal and used in one Member State have to be shared and accepted in other Member States, while simultaneously observing fundamental rights and substantial or procedural safeguards.
The aim of this topic is to tackle this multi-layered issue and set the basis for such a common data repository by creating a roadmap consisting of a clear set of rules, conditions and characteristics that such a repository should have, be it the variety of the data in function of the type and of the problem at hand, legal issues, avoidance of any bias, accessibility levels related to the sensitivity of various data sets, harmonisation of data formats, solutions for annotation as well as for the aging of the data, etc.
Funding Information
The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:
- public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
- cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).
Expected Outcomes
Projects results are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:
- The relevant community (researchers, practitioners, industry, policy makers) is made aware of the legal, ethical and technical pre-requisites that a European common research training and testing data repository in the area of fighting crime and terrorism should fulfil (e.g., by defining how it should be organised or which characteristics it should have), which would include latest technology developments and allow for adaptations as technologies progress, while taking into account ethical rules of operation and fundamental rights (including privacy and data protection) as well as cost-benefit considerations that have to be made in the context of proportionality in strict sense (as a step to assess the lawfulness of a measure interfering with the fundamental rights);
- The corresponding technical, legal and ethical basis for such a training and testing fighting crime and terrorism research data repository is set, that would allow for its creation in a subsequent step;
- Security practitioners are provided with an increased interoperability and improved (cross-border) exchange of data thanks to harmonised data file formats across Europe, which would easily take into account technological evolutions, i.e. be adaptable in time;
- Improved anonymisation and pseudonymisation technologies, including other security measures, such as masking and unmasking technologies to facilitate data management in this context, ensuring full access to the data actually needed (in line with the necessity and proportionality principle), as well as taking into account all applicable legislation and fundamental rights.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
- eligible non-EU countries:
- countries associated to Horizon Europe;
- low- and middle-income countries.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3xfJjVL