DIGITAL EUROPE – Strengthening the cybersecurity ecosystem – 2025

Objectives

• To tackle the challenges of an effective integration of PQC algorithms in Public Key Infrastructures (PKIs), which offers efficient migration strategies and strong business continuity guarantees
• To support the operation of National Coordination Centres (NCCs) and enable them to support the cybersecurity community, including SMEs, for the uptake and dissemination of state-of-the-art cybersecurity solutions and to strengthen cybersecurity capacities
• To strengthen the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers, ensuring they can effectively detect, monitor, and respond to cyber threats, particularly ransomware, thereby enhancing the resilience of the European healthcare system

Priorities

• Priority 1: Transition to Post-Quantum Public Key Infrastructures (PKI)
• Priority 2: Enhancing the National Coordination Centre (NCC) Network
• Priority 3: Dedicated Action to Reinforce Hospitals and Healthcare Providers

Among financed actions

• Design of digital signature combiners and key encapsulation mechanism
  combiners.
• The deployment of certificates in protocols that use those certificates
• The development of novel protocols for Automatic Certificate Management and revocation and of novel protocols for (privacy-friendly) certificate transparency
• The development of methods and tools that can be used by experts across various PKI domains, including all aspects of key management of asymmetric systems
• Matchmaking events to create connections and build trust; platforms and events for Access-to-Finance and Access-to-Market including in the area of dual-use technologies
• Strengthened Cybersecurity Community to support the European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre
• Synergetic activities that strengthen the role of NC

Eligibility

• Be a legal person
• Be a public or private entity
• Be established in one of the eligible countries:
  • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories)
  • EEA countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein)

A consortium composed of

• at least 2 independent applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from at least 2 eligible countries, which complies different conditions (see details on the call document) must be constituted (DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-08-CYBERHEALTH)
• For topics DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-08-PUBLICPQC and DIGITAL-ECCC2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-08-NCC: n/a

Additional information

• Initial duration of the action:
  • DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-08-PublicPQC: 36 months
  • DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-08-NCC: between 36 and 48 months
  • DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-08-CyberHEALTH: between 18 and 24 months
• Contact: applicants@eccc.europa.eu

Useful

• Guidelines: Click here
• Other call documents: Click here
• Executive Agency website: Click here
• More information: Click here

• Total budget of the call: 55 million euros
• Budget per topic:
  • DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOYCYBER-08-PUBLICPQC: 15 million euros
  • DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOYCYBER-08-NCC: 10 million euros
  • DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOYCYBER-08-CYBERHEALTH: 30 million euros
• Amount of the grant:
  • DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-08-PublicPQC: between 3 and 4 million euros
  • DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-08-NCC: between 2 and 3 million euros
  • DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-08-CyberHEALTH: between 3 and 5 million euros
• Funding rate: up to 50% of the total eligible costs