European Commission Staff Working Document
Enhancing Security Through Research and Innovation
https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/system/files/2021-12/SWD-2021-422_en.PDF

Brussels, 15.12.2021, SWD(2021) 422 final

Text quotes
remarks in italic

it outlines the measures being put in place so as to enable an
optimal uptake of innovation from research into state-of-the-art tools and services
available to EU and national security authorities

many of the research technologies developed by projects under previous research programmes (the Seventh Framework
Programme for 2007-2014 and Horizon 2020 for 2014-2020) are now mature enough that
they can be utilised to effectively produce and deploy new tools and solutions.

Having security research and innovation work fully aligned with EU security policy
priorities and making projects achieve their intended scientific objectives is, however, not
a guarantee that security practitioners (law enforcement, border guards, customs, first
responders etc.) will benefit from new tools in their daily practice.

– identifying capability gaps;
– translating capability gaps into research requirements;
– assessing the operational relevance of research projects;
– facilitating the operational testing and validation of solutions being developed;
– disseminating and exploiting successful results, thus facilitating their market uptake
and deployment; and
– providing feedback of research into the wider capability development process

Remark:
that list seems currently more or less limited to Frontex and eu-LISA (page 16)

Synergies with other programmes will cover, first and foremost, the security relevant
programmes, notably the Internal Security Fund, the Border Management and Visa
Instrument and the Customs Control Equipment Instrument.
Relevant other funding instruments are:
– the Digital Europe Programme78, addressing cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and
strategic digital capabilities79;
– the EU Civil Protection Mechanism with the rescEU instrument80, enabling a
strengthened EU response to disaster risk management; and
– the European Defence Fund81, for technology areas of common interest for civil and
defence stakeholders;
– the European Space Programme, notably via its Horizon Europe (cluster 4) dedicated
to the development of downstream applications for Galileo and Copernicus services,
both of major relevance for security-related applications.

Remark:
seeking synergies with other EU funding instruments is important
but it should have been noted that the same kind of synergy needs to be established with EU member states national and corresponding funding instruments.

Remarks:
This document is an important step, especially by going further than “just” supporting good projects work: implementing first ideas of promoting uptake of R&I results by the large practitioners communities.

“first steps”, because transfer of R&I results to the broad field application (operational standards in all Europe) is currently not yet addressed. In management terms: There is no roadmap to guide, enable and control broad operational “in-the-fields” success.

Making R&I results an operational standard needs the

• Joint R&I documentation and international visibility of implementation success stories of member states’ nationally funded R&I
• Implementation of a EU Common RISK Information Space (based on an adequate EU Regulation or Directive) (cf. http://dataspaces.info/common-european-data-spaces/#page-content )
• (digital) RISK Strategy and Roadmap of each member state
• (digital) RISK Strategy and Roadmap of of all organizational and operational units national/European
• Encouragement of national members’ Ministries and leading LEAs in defining digital Strategies and Roadmaps combined with EU coordination support (technical, legal, financial … )
• Awareness, Sensitivity and Readiness of local/regional/national parlaments to allocate adequate budgets, workforces
• Systematic Overhawl of local/regional/national legal, financial, as well as technical regulations and guidelines (also taking account needs from known and anticipated innovations as well as including the human resources area together with education and training requirements on all levels)

remarks: Horst Kremers