MEDEA will establish a network of M&BS practitioners and organizations mandated to enhance societies’ safety security, and resilience, that will define a coherent forward-looking strategy – MSRIA – to jointly tackle emerging security challenges considering the technological, human, organizational and regulatory dimensions

The MEDEA network (security mandated organizations project participants, associated partners, policy makers and users of security solutions) will use Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) as the “facilitator” to enhance the resilience of the M&BS societies through:

(i) Tackling security and societal challenges, common in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region, that cannot be addressed in isolation, but need cooperation to understand emerging threats, engage in transfer of knowledge and collaboration in practical terms

(ii) Provide a link between practitioners and the policy makers at national and EU level. MSRIA shall compliment national security strategies, e.g. Integrated Border Management, and include suggestions for concrete actions on the short-, medium- and long- term.

(iii) Develop joint scenarios accounting for emerging threats and future horizons (including interoperability of information systems), and the high priority ones will be detailed according to the Technology, Human Organizational and Regulatory (THOR) perspectives

(iv) Extensive interaction with academia and industry through a well-defined set of actions that will (a) bridge demand side and supply, leading to innovative solutions that fit operational needs, (b) evaluate and assess innovations based on unbiased and transparent process, (c) suggest policies for the uptake of innovations and (d) further engage practitioners’ participation in security research.

(v) Boosting regional and subsequently EU’s competitiveness through the well-known positive effects of research collaboration.

• Alignment of RDI programs with operational priorities, e.g. in high urgency situations to shift from development by technology push to development by capability pull and the use of “fast-track to deployment” projects,

• Coordination of Mediterranean & Black Sea (M&BS) practitioners in the establishment of national & EU policies on security research,

• Maximize the Return-Of-Investment in Security Technologies, and provide an efficient funding framework for the uptake of innovative solutions by the practitioners (PCP , PPI instruments),

• Improve the visibility of the EU Security Market on the demand side and on the supply side, and foster its competitiveness.