PROJECT OF THE WEEK - ECHO

European network of Cybersecurity centres and competence Hub for innovation and Operations

Cyber defence is vital for prosperity and security. The project ECHO aims to deliver an organised and coordinated approach to improve proactive cyber defence of the European Union, allowing the bloc to act in anticipation, defending against an attack on computers and networks. ECHO is developing a network through which the EU's Cybersecurity and Competence Centres can be best coordinated and optimised. This can help contribute to a lasting and sustainable development of cybersecurity skills, including increased research and experimentation for certified security products such as early warning systems and inter-sector technology roadmaps.

Objectives:

• ECHO delivers an organized and coordinated approach to improve proactive cyber defence of the European Union, through effective and efficient multi-sector collaboration. The Partners will execute on a 48-month work plan to develop, model and demonstrate a network of cyber research and competence centres, with a central competence at the hub. The Central Competence Hub serves as the focal point for the ECHO Multi-sector Assessment Framework enabling multi-sector dependencies management, provision of an ECHO Early Warning System, an ECHO Federation of Cyber Ranges and management of an expanding collection of Partner Engagements.
• The ECHO Multi-sector Assessment Framework refers to the analysis of challenges and opportunities derived from sector specific use cases, transversal cybersecurity needs analysis and development of inter-sector Technology Roadmaps involving horizontal cybersecurity disciplines.
• The Early Warning System, Federation of Cyber Ranges and Inter-sector Technology Roadmaps will then be subject of Demonstration Cases incorporating relevant involvement of inter-dependent industrial sectors.
• The ECHO Cyber-skills Framework provides the foundation for development of cybersecurity education and training programmes including a common definition of transversal and inter-sector skills and qualifications needed by cybersecurity practitioners.
• The ECHO Cybersecurity Certification Scheme provides a sector specific and inter-sector process for cybersecurity certification testing of new technologies and products resulting from the proposed technology roadmaps.
• The project will develop and operate under an ECHO Governance Model, by which the efforts across the EU Network of Cybersecurity Competence Centres can be coordinated and optimized to provide lasting and sustainable excellence in cybersecurity skills development; research and experimentation; technology roadmaps delivery; and certified security products for improved cybersecurity resilience.

Learn more about ECHO project, one of the cybersecurity pilot competence centre.