ECHO

Introduction:

The ECHO (European network of Cybersecurity centres and competence Hub for innovation and Operations) project is one of four Pilot projects, launched by the European Commission, to establish and operate a Cybersecurity Competence Network. The ECHO project will deliver an organized and coordinated approach to strengthen proactive cyber defence in the European Union, through effective and efficient multi-sector collaboration. The ECHO consortium partners are looking forward to start their joint 48-month work plan in which they will develop, model and demonstrate a network of cyber research and competence centres.

The ECHO project will deliver an organized and coordinated approach to strengthen proactive cyber defence in the European Union, through effective and efficient multi-sector collaboration.  The project already involves 30 partners from the East to the West of Europe, and is actively engaging new partners interested to contribute to the cybersecurity resilience of the EU and in reaching the collaboration goals.

Through the project, the ECHO partners will develop, model and demonstrate a network of cybersecurity research and competence, with a centre of research and competence at the hub.  While technology companies struggle with a fragmented view of security requirements across industrial sectors and fragmented national policies for security test and certification, the ECHO project will contribute an adaptive model for information sharing and collaboration among the network of partners and related agencies.

The main goal of the project is to organize and optimize the currently fragmented cybersecurity efforts across the EU.  The Central Competence Hub will serve as the focal point for the ECHO Multi-sector Assessment Framework enabling multi-sector cybersecurity dependencies analysis and management including:

• Development of cybersecurity technology roadmaps;
• Creation of an ECHO Cybersecurity Certification Scheme aligned with ongoing EU efforts;
• Provision of an ECHO Early Warning System;
• Operation of an ECHO Federation of Cyber Ranges;
• Delivery of the ECHO Cyberskills Framework, with training materials and training events;
• Management of an expanding collection of Partner Engagements.

Who is the project designed for?

Public Sector Organizations, IT SMEs, Researchers, Security Software Industry, End User Organizations, Policy & Regulators, ICT Sectors, Academia.

How will your project benefit the end-user?

The ECHO impact will be far-reaching. ECHO offers sustainable governance for a cybersecurity competence network, increasing the cybersecurity of the Digital Single Market across the EU. ECHO provides multi-centre engagement opportunities for new partners from EU agencies, industries and academia. ECHO’s approach will drive the possibilities to ensure resilient capacities to secure the European digital economy, infrastructures, society, and democracy.