Objectives
1. Improve collaboration among institutions and actors from different disciplines using research and innovation as a catalyst for a) enhancing capabilities of practitioners through the use of technological innovations in their operations and b) enable the coordinated use of interconnected information systems.
Establish a Mediterranean and Black Sea network of national mandated organizations, in a region that shares macroscopically common principles in culture, societal values and economic situation, and is exposed to common threats. The MEDEA network aims to enhance cross-border and cross-discipline collaboration through the transfer of best practices and engage in stimulus interaction with i) industry & academia ii) policy makers and funding authorities (complimentary sides of the knowledge triangle). MEDEA is envisaged to follow an open policy admission for practitioners that wish to join at a later stage and pursue interaction with other similar organizations, networks of practitioners, EU and International Organizations.
Strengthening operational capabilities of M&BS practitioners. The conclusive activities of the MEDEA project are expected to provide an improvement of the operational capabilities of the MEDEA network practitioners as 1) they be will be aware of new technological solutions and innovations and get familiarised with the field of the most promising and ready-to-market ones, 2) engage in the exchange of best practices from cross-border and cross-discipline practitioners, 3) engage in discussions and make recommendations on the sharing information and interoperability of ICT systems. Also, they will be engaged in the development, prioritization and thorough analysis of emerging and future threats scenarios, which could then be used as reference in their own daily operations.
Development and Cooperation for Transnational Security Research – Exploitation of EU research and innovation outcomes in neighbouring/adjacent third countries. The transnational nature of observed and emerging threats across the M&BS, stresses the need that development and cooperation should be an essential part of the envisaged and implemented solutions to ensure security. The MEDEA transnational network of cross-discipline practitioners could facilitate cooperation on high priority scenarios, introducing the visions and perspectives of the non-EU sides. The transnational collaboration could push for bilateral contracts between M&BS countries to address possible co-funding, specialties of third country national rules and legislation for security research and export, IPR that will have an impact on the EU security market.
2. Define Mediterranean and Black Sea regional security priorities, amalgamated in an annually updated Mediterranean Security Research and Innovation Agenda, using a scenario based visioning method for considering alternative future threats and high impact scenarios, comparing them, analysing how they might occur in the mid to the long-term and how effective and efficient responses may by devised.
Assessing future and emerging threats in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. During MEDEA all Thematic Communities of Practice (TCP), from M&BS security mandated organizations, shall establish a large scenarios database including both current and emerging threats (0-10 years) and also a foresight of future threats (after 10 years). The holistic THOR (Technology, Human, Organisational, Regulatory) approach will be applied in high-valued scenarios giving equal considerations to all elements on how these threats could be effectively tackled by the seamless cooperation of cross-discipline practitioners.
Provide a unified Mediterranean contribution to the National and EU Policy Makers on Upcoming Challenges to European Security. MEDEA network shall contribute to national and EU Security strategies stemming from the European Union’s ambition to converge towards a ‘Security Union’ and the associated ‘Strategic Dialogue on Upcoming Challenges to European Security’.
3. Build a scenario driven technology roadmap that a) identifies common needs of relevant actors across the region b) explores the use of innovative tools such as PCP, PPI, etc. taking advantage of economies of scale and reducing time to market and c) capitalize on previous research and innovation activities (national, FP7, H2020, ISF etc.), policy documents, relevant reports.
“Co-create security innovation”, in an environment where practitioners and suppliers will work together to define a security research agenda indicating priorities regarding common capabilities or interfaces among capabilities. The extensive THOR analysis for the selected scenarios will guide to a targeted interaction with academia and industry (Section 1.3.3) and coordinated proposals of Mediterranean priorities in EU funds (H2020, DG-HOME, DG-MARE, EDA) will provide economies of scale and maximize use of available resources from the practitioners’ perspective.
Transparent evaluation of innovations and tools for uptake by practitioners. MEDEA project proposes a coordinated approach from the “demand side” to collectively reduce time from research and development to practitioner’s hands. In summary it contains the following steps : 1) concrete users requirements, 2) open industry/academia (RDI) days, 3) technology evaluation and assessment on well-defined and transparent multi-dimensional criteria, 4) Proof of Concept & evaluations from practitioners, 5) suggestions for pertinent policies establishment, 6) needs for standardization and harmonization, 7) advising / training on new funding instruments and mechanisms (e.g. PCP, PPI, POV) and 8) proposing the “security funding continuum” for aligning different funding instruments from different authorities towards a single common goal.
