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Final Report Summary - BE WISER (Building Enterprises – Wireless and Internet Security in European Regions)

Executive Summary:
Be Wiser goal was to examine organisation and technical research challenges in seven of Europe’s RTD regions. The technology focus was on wireless internet security; while the organisational challenge was to more effectively utilize Triple Helix clusters in regional innovation processes. This approach aims to strengthen Europe’s position in wireless rand internet security and address the challenges set out in the Digital Agenda.
With the rapid expansion in wireless based devices, involving complex and highly confidential transactions, the security of data transmission is becoming a crucial challenge as a large number of objects are going to be connected via the Internet of Things.
The clusters involved in this project have strong technological complementary skills and experience – and have varying levels of organisational sophistication in terms of how they manage their innovation processes. A recognised goal was the potential to mentor each other while working collaboratively on RTD and organisation challenges.
Be Wiser has acomplished a set of activities:
· Analyse the regions involved and the sector addressed via triple helix clusters bringing Policy Makers, Researchers and Enterprises together to focus on innovation processes and RTD;
· Develop a JAP and develop smart specialisation strategies and identify further research and business opportunities as part of broader economic development strategies ;
· Deliver tangible outputs that will enhance the competitiveness of the clusters,
· Seek new market opportunities for enterprises, especially SMEs and on the international market;
· Mentor all partner regions on technology, business and clustering themes;
· Develop a sustainable business plan.

Project Context and Objectives:
“Building Enterprises – Wireless and Internet Security in European Regions” (Be Wiser) is a FP7 Region of Knowledge project.
Be Wiser Goals
• Helping companies become more competitive by enhancing access to research excellence, funding mechanisms and innovation through the improved interconnection of the actors in the field of Wireless and Internet Security ;
• Promoting the collaboration, exchange and dissemination of policy initiatives and best industry and policy practices at European level and beyond;
• Sharing knowledge between the different regions through inter-clustering;
• Developing targeted actions for cluster actors especially for SMEs (via support to open innovation, commercialisation, internationalisation and technology partnering);
• Implementing targeted internationalisation strategies and pilot actions to demonstrate their feasibility and impacts;
• Preparing Be Wiser clusters’ members to exploit opportunities offered by EU-framework programmes such as H2020 and COSME.
Be Wiser Partners
The Be Wiser Consortium partners consist of seven ICT Triple Helix Clusters (THCs), drawn from different EU members states, namely:
• Systematic – Lead partner, and the Paris Region (France) ICT Triple Helix cluster
• Cork, Ireland – it@cork with its business membership plus relationships with the Cork Institute of Technology (including the NIMBUS Centre) and Cork County Council, form the Irish Triple Helix Cluster.
• Momentum, Invest NI and CSIT in Queens University combine to form the Northern Ireland Triple Helix Cluster
• CyberForum Germany – the Baden-Württemberg (Germany) ICT Triple Helix cluster
• EURECAT – the Catalonia (Spain) ICT Triple Helix cluster
• ICT Technology Network – the Slovenian ICT Triple Helix cluster
• Cyprus Computer Society (CCS) – a developing ICT Triple Helix cluster (Cyprus)

THCs support and animate a network of businesses, regional centres of research & technology, and public authorities responsible for investment in economic development.

These clusters share a common objective of stimulating ICT and Wireless and Internet Security innovation, but operate in different ways, bringing together different strengths and expertise. Through this project, the clusters can offer a greater breadth of competence to the marketplace and can exchange successful practices. They can also achieve a critical mass to attract additional ICT clusters into the network. The internationalisation aspect of the project will identify links with expert clusters which are already in place, with the goal of further developing these linkages during the Be Wiser project.
In addition to the Be Wiser technical THCs the Inno Group provides benchmarking analysis support.

Project Results:
Work Package 2 - Regional cluster SWOT analysis

The SWOT analysis and the detailed analysis of the state of play and mapping of the partners and other international clusters is a cornerstone of the project. It is an essential foundation for creating the required project focus, bringing an overarching view of existing and projected conditions regionally, nationally and trans-nationally.
The results of this WP helped to fuel the building of the Joint Action Plan (JAP) and laid the basis for future collaboration.
Objectives
o Build a common SWOT analysis methodology
o Prepare a clear mapping of research fields, clusters, cluster policy makers and relevant support policies to lay the foundations for better Regional Research Agendas and the subsequent Joint Action Plan. Existing regional/national RTD policies and strategies will be audited for digital expansion and take up
o Identify the economic development strengths, needs, and opportunities
o Identify the potential best practices and mutual learning areas for transnational collaborations
o Identify elements for the future mentoring programme
Significant results:
- Visits of the seven clusters by inno team with and organized by representatives of the regional partners, spreading over four months:
o Northern Ireland : 14, 15, 16 and 17th of October 2013
o Slovenia : 13, 14, and 15th of November 2013
o Barcelona / Catalonia: 25, 26 and 27th of November 2013
o Cork region : 09,10 and11th of December 2013
o Paris / île-de-France: 12th of December, and 8th and 9th of January 2014.
o Cyprus: 14th - 16th January 2014
o Karlsruhe: January 2014
During each visit the project and the EU ROK programme were presented to all local, regional and national actors who were met. In some cases direct cluster policy briefing and lobbying was undertaken. Major BeWiser events such as the B2B meetings were also presented.
Analysis of information collected during the cluster visits and from the questionnaires, through the preparation of individual reports for each region set up (Delivrable 2.2) with:
o mapping of RDI (research, development and innovation) policies and initiatives related to ICT and wireless security, at national and regional level
o analysis of cluster activities : main topics and services, and expectations related security
o mapping of research and technology competences : research labs, companies, training, interfaces
o individual SWOT analysis on key issues raised : academic research, industry market, and other relevant issues
o Ideas / list of suggestions for the JAP on the key issues raised during the visit
o Presentation of the list of ecosystem actors met to facilitate partner networking
For each region, the individual SWOT was reported following the same outline.
1. MAPPING OF POLICIES related innovation, research and ICT / wireless security
2. MAPPING OF RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY COMPETENCES
3. REGIONAL SWOT ANALYSIS
4. List of SUGGESTIONS FOR THE JAP
5. ANNEXES/CONTACTS

- Cross analysis of the 7 individual regional SWOT reports, to develop a global Be Wiser SWOT (Deliverable 2.4) creating the framework conditions for a common approach between the Be WISER partners. The global SWOT provides the basis:

o to highlight the differences in the approaches between the seven Regions on each issue, to identify best practices
o to identify the opportunities for mutual learning and mentoring opportunities between the different regional research driven clusters
And to identify opportunities for concrete collaboration between the project partners as part of the JAP : to support the launch of the more concrete project cooperation activities according to the strategic objectives for cluster and ICT and wireless security research and industry.

Work Package 3 - Definition of a Joint Action Plan

The development of a Joint Action Plan (JAP) was a key project activity and output designed to focus all regional consortia on opportunities for economic and technological growth within the regions. Also being an important catalyst in harnessing the strengths within each of the Triple Helix clusters, in identifying shared actions to address identified weaknesses through the mentoring process between all partners.
The JAP was build on the results of WP2 and designed to assist partners in steering how their Triple Helix structures will operate more efficiently and effectively in capturing new opportunities, shaping research agendas to ensure that productive sector goals are addressed and ensuring that at a policy level regions are highly focussed on smart specialisation. Policy initiatives were exchanged and best industry/policy practice across partners was compared to provide guidance to each member.
The Plan adressed the potential of the Triple Helix to share information and promote interactions between the research and productive sectors through measures such as:
o at a policy level, a much greater focus on strategic regional economic opportunities and needs.
o the greater involvement of industry in the design and delivery of education and research
o enhancement of opportunities for researchers to work in industries;
o the placement of students with industry and job assessment as part of academic accreditation;
o the establishment of an environment where industry supports the placement of the tools of advanced technologies within educational environments;
Objectives
The objectives of the JAP and individual actions are summarised as follow (Deliverable 3.3):
Action
Objective A: Raise awareness and improve cybersecurity practice of citizens, and fill gaps relating to the cybersecurity skills needs of industry.
A1.1 - 'Cybersecurity Education'
A2.1 - 'Cybersecurity Awareness'
A3.1 – ‘ICT Security 'Skills Gap'
Objective B: Ensure that the market requirements and business needs of the ICT sector are addressed through
(i) facilitation and development of technological and business relationships between actors associated with Be Wiser clusters, and (ii) developing & influencing ICT policy related to security.
B1.1 - 'Be Wiser International Hub'
B1.2 - 'V-LINC Analysis'
B1.3 - 'Be Wiser Connect'
B1.4- 'Start-up Ecosystem Analysis'
B2.1 - 'Be Wiser Trade Missions'
B2.2 - 'Leveraging International Cluster Best Practice'
B3.1 - 'Be Wiser Involvement in Standardisation'
Objective C: Support the development of cybersecurity RDI initiatives, and facilitate SME and large enterprise access to RDI funding.
C1.1 - 'Develop Be Wiser RD&I Database'
C.1.2 - 'Promotion of RD&I ICT Security Projects'
C.2.1 - 'Promoting Knowledge Transfer'
Objective D: Strengthen the governance and operation of clusters through mentoring, staff exchange and cluster matchmaking.
D1.1 - 'Cluster Requirements Analysis'
D2.1 - 'Cluster Knowledge Building'
D2.2 - ‘Best Practice Collaboration Sharing’
D3.1 - 'Cluster Internationalisation'
.
Significant results
- Consultative roundtable policy events: Round tables gathering industry, education and research bodies were organisedin each region around potential synergies in ICT among triple helix clusters' members: focusing R&DT on security field, improving ressources availability, fostering clusters' efficiency.
- Joint Action Plan: The JAP helped building strategic partnerships within the consortium for research and business development and in developing international business and cooperation opportunities around the globe together with identifying new funding sources to support JAP objectives. http://be-wiser.eu/assets/documents/JAP%20Brochure%20Be%20Wiser20151208.pdf
Detailed achievements are described under WP5 5 “Measures towards the implementation of the Joint Action Plan”.

Work Package 4 - Definition of an international cooperation strategy

This work package analysed the current environment to maximise economic opportunities for a secure cyber Europe. The project partners identified a focused group of international regions selected on the basis of existing relationships, geography, maturity in this area and EU focus to help create strategic collaborations with world partners. This was identified as countries with which the consortium has strong links : USA, India, Dubaï,...
The work package was closely linked with other work package output especially the SWOT analysis both internal and external to the EU. The attitudes of different sections of the EU population to the use and abuse of wireless internet broadband was assessed using a large scale survey.
Objectives
o To develop an internationalisation strategy;
o To identify the information required from the SWOT analysis to perform an effective international comparison;
o To understand from an international perspective both the technology and its future development trends;
o To establish a suitable roadmap through which the EU can develop in anticipation of global market evolution and to feed this into the JAP;
o To consolidate international links and reaffirm the position of the EU as the driver of global wireless evolution in order to leverage existing synergies and generate new long term international partnerships;
o To create an EU-centric global community in wireless and internet security;
o To align and influence current and future technical standards, networking with ETSI for example;
o To build capacity as a facilitator to the opening of new markets for Europe, through mentoring output, such as education and training systems, from this project internationally;
o To use an appropriate collaboration platform for example the European Cluster collaboration Platform (ECCP). A main EU instrument for promoting transnational cluster cooperation). Also participate in specific matchmaking events to prepare the ground for more practical cooperation in support of SME internationalisation through clusters;

Significant results
- International analysis and market survey: The survey collected from each regional partner and from Desk research using industry analysts reports such as Frost & Sullivan and Gartner was performed. It served to identify industry trends, markets and opportunities & to be used as the basis for establishing the international strategy.
- International recommendations and actions: Specific internationalisation tools were developped:
o V-Linc: active face-to-face connections analysis. V-LINC maps give a visual representation of the relative reliance on local, national, European or Global linkages of a company, or when combined, of a cluster. V-LINC facilitates policy development at regional and national levels, through the aggregation of data from a sample of firms to help build partnership for SMEs and clusters. Analysis of 70 firms spread across our partner regions, plus V-Linc analysis of 10 firms in Chicago area;
o Be Wiser Connect, an online platform designed for facilitating connections between IT firms across the project regions;
o Use of the Business Roaming Agreement or the European Cluster Collaboration Platform, disseminating and adapting tools to create new added value for clusters and SMEs and enhance the international visibility of the clusters.
- Leveraging international best practices:
o An internationalisation strategy was designed based on observed best practices within Europe and the world it is aimed at providing a guideline to linking European companies and government on the international stage. A guide on Internationalization best practices was issued and distributed to partners and also on the project website. http://be-wiser.eu/admin/resources/bewisercluster-internationalisation-best-practices-guide-1.pdf
-Building of international relationships:
o Analysing new cooperation-opportunities at transnational / international level,
o Establishing contacts with other clusters on European and international level particularly the USA (Atlanta), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Hanoi / Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and South Korea, presentation of members‘ research and internationalisation activities to an Indian delegation.
o Reviewing India best practices for use in activities connected to Slovenia Smart SPecialization Strategy and overall internationalization strategy. Active cooperation intenrationally - an ICT Tech based program with EBTC and other Indian organizations

Work Package - 5 Measures towards the implementation of the Joint Action Plan

This workpackage constitutes the concrete implementation of joint action plan supported by a comprehensive set of activities.
Objectives
Identification and participation in complementary national and international cooperation projects
o Scanning, qualification and integration of new regional research-driven cluster partners
o Organisation of events to disseminate the JAP beyond the project partners
o Setting-up of mentoring activities
o Share of good practices in regional RTD policies
o Support to SMEs

Significant results
- Matchmaking events, four match making events with face to face pre-booked meetings were organized
o in Barcelona around the 2014 Mobile World Congress it gathered several industrial representatives present on the event.
o in Barcelona around the 2015 Mobile World Congress with 33 attendees; interest and match were found on several H2020 projects.
o in Cork, the Irish partners organized the Euro Tech event : three site visits
Participation @ the DealBroker event: pitch to large local MNCs Networking Breakfast @ CIT.
Be Wiser Connect Networking with 9 firms meeting 11 Irish companies

o in London during the Infosecurity event, the Be Wiser consortium in collaboration with the Enterprise Europe Network London organised the SecMatch event on June 8th, a business-to-business matchmaking event preceded by a panel discussion. 48 representatives from 13 countries have registered and 17 delegates created 29 meetings (45% of these were trans-national). https://www.b2match.eu/SecMatch2016
- Trade missions, three international trade missions were organised:
o To Dubai (GITEX)
Four Be Wiser partners participated in the trade mission namely, Cyprus Computer Society (Cyprus), Invest Northern Ireland (UK), IT@Cork (Ireland), and Systematic (France). Ten members companies were able to attend the trade show under this joint initiative. http://be-wiser.eu/admin/resources/bewisergitextmreport.pdf
o To San Francisco (RSA)
The Be Wiser project organized a business delegation tour in San Francisco and Silicon Valley to coincide with the RSA conference. The Trade Mission attracted four companies from Northern Ireland (five participants) and five from France (eleven participants)
The Be Wiser project also financed two associated events: Business delegation tour in Silicon Valley (February 29th) and the Brokerage Networking event @French Tech Hub: CYBERSECURITY TECHMEETING - organised in collaboration with the Open Innovation Club (March 2nd). The companies who joined the business delegation participated in these events. http://be-wiser.eu/admin/resources/bewisermeetssiliconvalleyreportfinal-1.pdf

o To London (INFOSECURITY)
The Be Wiser project organized a participation with a booth at Infosecurity (June 7th-9th 2016) with following goals:
- Disseminate the activities and achievements of the project to a wide range of companies thanks to the booth presence of the BeWiser project at the fair.
- Contacting and explaining the project in a proactive way, to SMEs companies that had their own booth at the Olympia venue.
- Participate as a first hand actor to contribute to the London Infosecurity panel of conferences and networking between participants with the SecMatch event. (June 8th)
http://be-wiser.eu/admin/resources/bewiseratinfoseclondonreport-1.pdf
- Mentoring Workshops, mentoring activities took place along the duration of the project:
o Mentoring workshop organised in Ljubljana Slovenia on June 5th 2015 gathered cluster members and local authorities; the following topics were adressed by ICT TN, Cyberforum, Inno, CIT, Systematic & INI. Beyond of the presentations of best practices, the participants launch an open discussion: how to get cooperation projects, how to increase membership, how to keep members through attractive services, other support cluster might offer, how to connect with governments better.
o Mentoring of ICT TN in Ljubljana Slovenia on September 17th 2015 by CyberForum. This second working were built according the demand of the slovenian policy makers.Topic: How to gain sustainability and how to gather the requirements of members? The workshop took place and was financed by the EU-funded project "Poly4EMI". A report is available.
o Mentoring workshops in Cork Ireland on September 28th &29th 2015 in cooperation with CIT, IT@Cork and Cork City Council representing the regional triple helix cluster were attended by Eurecat, ICT TN, and Dr Ruslan Rakhmatullin a European Commission RIS3 project officer based in Seville, along with Cork policy makers, academics, business people.
o Mentoring workshop in Nicosia Cyprus on October 7th 2015 organised by CCS. Main lessons from Cyprus region SWOT Analysis. Conclusion on needs and opportunities for Cyprus.How to set-up a relevant cluster policy? How to move from an industry Network to a triple helix cluster?
o Mentoring workshop in Ljubljana Slovenia on February 11th 2016 organised by ICT TN. BeWiser partners: Inno tsd, CyberForum, Eurecat. Meeting titled: Towards Cluster policy Excellence
o A return workshop was held on May 23rd & 24th 2016 in Barcelona Spain. ICT TN brought political decision makers from Slovenia and a number of Clusters to Barcelona to learn from ACCIO, Catalonia about cluster policy and practice. A successful collaboration with another cluster project Poly4Eml and other clusters.
- Regional Digital Agenda, contacts were made with policy actors especially in Germany, Slovenia, France, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland:
o Several meetings with Ile de France Region and ANSSI representatives. Hearing of Jean-Luc Beylat, President of Systematic Paris Region, and other industrial representative by the French Senate on the digital security.
o Contacts made with Hexatrust ( at the FIC event where a common booth was held ).
o Conversations and meetings with Public Authorities of City of Karlsruhe and County of Karlsruhe : the security theme has an important relevance within the areas of Smarter City, Energy and Smart Industry.
o Meetings at German Federal Association of Small and Medium-sized IT-Businesses.
o Mentoring workshop in Larnaca was the occasion for sharing with local authorities & start a strong network of associates with common or complimentary research interests in order to participate and collaborate in European projects.
o In preparation of the Bled (Slovenia) E-Conference, identifying activities for discussion with policy actors (from Smart Specialization and cluster members recommendations).
o PPP on Cybersecurity, The “EC public consultation on the public-private partnership on cybersecurity and possible accompanying measures” was opened on December 18th 2015. With respect to cybersecurity standardisation, this consultation complements the overall public consultation on the development of the Priority ICT Standards Plan. The Be Wiser consortium pilots the answers to this consultation.
o CyberForum contributed to the Digital Agenda 2020+ of the state Baden-Wuerttemberg! See also (unfortunately there is only a German version):
http://www.ikt-bw.de/fileadmin/_ikt-kongress/dokumente/DigitaleAgenda_2020__01.pdf

Following initiatives were closely reviewed :
o Strategic Research Agenda draft - WG3 Network and Information Security (NIS) Platform
o The European Data Protection Supervisor Strategy for 2015-2019
o EU Cybersecurity Dashboard
- Other achievements, Be Wiser has tempted to stimulate the European ICT and Wireless and Internet Security ecosystem, through cooperative actions between clusters and RDI actors of the triple helix. The joint action plan has produced many concrete results in line with this objective that have enhanced European cooperation between clusters and between their members. Furthermore these actions have raised the awareness on the issue of cybersecurity.

Be Wiser has also played a role in designing and adjusting innovative tools for clusters and SMEs in the field of cybersecurity to encourage their development both at the national and international levels:

o V-Linc analysis, active face-to-face connections to help build partnership for SMEs and clusters : analysis of 70 firms spread across our partner regions, plus V-Linc analysis of 10 firms in Chicago area ;
o A guide on Internationalisation best practices was issued and distributed to partners and is also available on the project website
o Be Wiser Connect, an online platform designed for facilitating connections between IT firms across regions;
Synergies developed between Be Wiser and Business Roaming Agreement or the European Cluster Collaboration Platform, disseminating and adapting tools to create new added value for clusters and SMEs and enhance the international visibility of the clusters.
Be Wiser also allowed project partners to strengthen relationships and cooperation between themselves through:

• The exchange of knowledge and good practices, especially cluster mentoring
• The introduction of cybersecurity experts between partners;

• The submission of 33 common proposals related to cybersecurity and the perspective of the new European funding.

Be Wiser partners also ensured that policy makers engaged in Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) work were involved in the project and that they were made aware of the opportunities of cybersecurity and related IT sectors for their regions.
Furthermore, Be Wiser inserted itself in the online security ecosystem and contributed to raise Cybersecurity topics and issues at the international level.

Many meetings on standardization allowed BeWiser partners to contribute to discussions and issues on standardization at high level:

o Two SMEs were involved in standardization bodies: Cognition Video (a spin-out company from QUB) is investigating engagement with ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 37 on biometrics and Cyberlytic is investigating use of STIX and TAXII standards from OASIS in their cyber threat intelligence platform.
o Be Wiser partners regularly attended key Standardization meetings/conferences and met with ETSI staff during a field mission to Sophia Antipolis.

Work Package 6 - Communication and dissemination activities
Objectives
o Development of the communication and dissemination plan
o Creation and application of a brand/logo theme and presentation material
o Strategic exchanges with other EU policies programmes : synergies with other research and cluster
o Electronic communication through the Be Wiser social networking suite
o Dissemination through conferences, events, projects and dedicated articles
These activities helped reinforce the mentoring activities proposed in WP5 and played an important role in supporting the growth and competitiveness impact of the ICT clusters and in implementing the JAP.
Significant results
- Presentation material: A logo & a general Be Wiser brochure were created, in addition, a roll-up/banner was created for exhibitions
- Social Media: Creation of a Be Wiser webpage: (http://www.be-wiser.eu/) The content has been updated regularly by all partners. The webpage will be kept active and up-to-date until 2019
Be Wiser group at LinkedIn & Be Wiser Twitter account were created.
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Be-Wiser-Project-6514102?trk=my_groups-b-grp-v
Twitter Account: @EU_BeWiser
A Be Wiser Newsletter has been distributed among partners and subscribers and included news, activities, reports and events of the consortium on a regular basis. (http://be-wiser.eu/news/category.php?cat=be-wiser-newsletter)
- Dissemination articles, press releases and similar: 120 news/ articles and press releases about Be Wiser activities were published.
- Presentation at conferences, workshops, congresses etc.: Be Wiser was presented on 155 occasions, ranging from workshops, tech talks, roundtables to international events like conferences.
- Other dissemination activities: Be Wiser partners presented Be Wiser with a booth at different occasions, e.g. the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2014, the Security Summit in Cyprus, Infosecurity Europe in London or the Systematic 2015 and 2016 annual conventions with a Be Wiser booth and a workshop entitled "The challenge of security in new technologies".
Synergies with other research networks:
o Presentation of Be Wiser Project at RoK Capitalization Workshop in Brussels on December 10th, 2013
o Be Wiser consortium was present at several occasions in order to sound new cooperation possibilities and new research opportunities (e.g. ICT proposers day 2015, C2C Matchmaking and Conference in Brussels, ClusteriX Final Conference). Cooperation was developed with the UPSIDE project (FP7 RoK) and synergies were established to the ClusteriX project.
o CSIT has been involved as part of the Advisory Board of the IPACSO project thisalso led to the opportunity for CSIT to present Be Wiser at the Cyber Security and Privacy Forum in April 2015;
o Systematic has contacts with other clusters through the EICOSE project. The European Institute for Complex Safety Critical Systems Engineering is a virtual institute that leverages three recognized national initiatives onto a European dimension, Systematic, Aerospace Valley (www.aerospace-valley.com) and the German competence cluster SafeTRANS (www.safetrans-de.org).
o Systematic has subscribed to ECSO the organisation leading the cPPP Horizon 2020 programme.
Synergies with other cluster networks
o Partners works tightly with the SCS (Secured Communicating Solutions) Cluster in Sophia Antipolis The so called Business Roaming Agreement that connects currently 67 clusters worldwide opens a broad, international cluster network to all Be Wiser partners.
o Be Wiser was presented at different occasions to other cluster representatives in order to sound potential cooperation (CentraLab Final Conference, ClusteriX final conference, ICT proposers day).
o Cluster to cluster match making event in Brussels on November 2014 was attended by most members of the consortium, leading to potential cooperation on new projects e.g. INNOSUP: consortium attendees met cluster representatives from France, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Italy and Sweden.
o The general activities of Systematic to establish connections with clusters at the European level are organised under four axes: Partnership missions in Europe, International conferences, Submissions to EC calls and Signatures of MoU
o In October 2014, IT@Cork was invited to join ICT4Future, a European Strategic Cluster Partnership (ESCP) where already MOMENTUM was an active partner (http://www.clustercollaboration.eu/ict4future)
o CIT has developed a competence in Cluster and Competitiveness based research through their V-LINC research which has been instrumental in creating multiple linkages across Europe. Such connections have created conduits for the Be Wiser project to connect with other organisations through ERASMUS+, European Commissions RIS3 Platform, European Regional Science Association and The Competitiveness Institute (TCI) programmes.
o Invest NI is a member of the Competitiveness Institute (TCI) and regularly contribute through attendance at European and global conferences and presents papers on collaboration as a tool for cluster development. It has further presented its unique “bottom-up” approach to cluster development.
o CyberForum cooperates closely with European Clusters, e.g. the SCS (Secured Communicating Solutions) Cluster in Sophia Antipolis and the EDIT cluster in Lyon, for both cooperation agreements exist.
o Since January 2016, Inno is responsible for the strategic exchanges with other EU policies and programmes, at regional level (other regional cluster) and European level (European Cluster Collaboration Platform, European Cluster Observatory...)
o Be Wiser partners were able to pursue synergies with other research and cluster networks, by participating in several events (e.g. conferences, Cluster2Cluster matchmaking events, Networking events, mentoring workshops). Here some examples:
Sounding of Cooperation Possibilities at Kick-off Meeting of “BuildingValueSMEs” in Paris
Sounding of Cooperation Possibilities at Meeting with EcoWorld in Styria
Be Wiser breakout sessions at The 5th World Cyber Security Technology Research Summit in Belfast
Establishing synergies between CATALYST consortium and CIT in Barcelona
European Congress of Local Governments in Krakow
Developing of Cooperation Synergies with Poly4EmI in Ljubjiana
Testing of Cooperation Possibilities between Academia and Industry in Nicosia
Cluster Seminar Series Cork Institute of Technology in Cork
Testing of Cooperation Possibilities at the ICT 2015 Conference in Lisbon
Sounding of Cooperation Possibilities at the 7th European Networking Event "Successful R&I in Europe 2015” in Düsseldorf
Sounding of Cooperation Possibilities at the Workshop “Contribution of "Research Potential" and "Regions of Knowledge" to Synergies of EU Policies in Brussel

o The presence of Be Wiser Cluster partner profiles on ECCP Platform http://www.clustercollaboration.eu/ will continue after the end of the project. This will guarantee continued high visibility of IT/security related events and missions, including new cross sectoral and international actions.

Potential Impact:
Main results:
- Succesful project management.

- Regional SWOT analysis and global synthesis.

- National & international Market analysis were conducted in each region as well as citizen surveys regarding the internet and wifi security.

- Policy Round tables held in each region.

- Joint Action Plan each detailed with responsible entity, associated KPIs, timeframe and source of funding. Monitoring process set in place to insure full control of the progress. A comprehensive set of seventeen individual actions around 4 themes (citizen awareness & education, market & business needs, RDI initiatives & fundings, cluster governance).
o Seven face to face consortium meetings were held.
o Six mentoring sessions including staff echanges held in Cork, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Slovenia (2) and Spain in front of local authorities and cluster members.
o Four match making events were organized in Barcelona (2), Cork and London.
o Three international trade missions were organized during international events: GITEX (Dubaï), INFOSECURITY (London) and RSA (San Francisco).
o Dissemination activities were performed, reaching European & international audiences.
All the project deliverables were completed and put on the EC platform, ECAS.

Conclusion:
The project coordinator organised the consortium with efficient tools and process. The aim was to facilitate the collaboration between the partners providing a single reference to find all the data regarding the project. Permanent monitoring through consortium meetings and specific calls helped completing the scope of the project within time frame and budget.

Main achievements summary
The Be Wiser project concluded its activities with the Final Conference “Clusters and Cybersecurity – Be Wiser outlines Europe’s Cybersecurity Challenges” in Bled (Slovenia), on Wednesday, June 22nd 2016. The conference was a track of the Bled e-conference – Digital Economy. The Be Wiser final conference attracted along the day up to 50 participants, among researchers, cluster representatives, cybersecurity experts and policy makers.
As a conclusion to this final event is was quoted that Be Wiser project achievements in each ecosystem will result in long lasting benefits in terms of data security and cluster policy”.
Furthermore, collaborations between several Be Wiser partners on Horizon 2020 and COSME proposals are initiated and will be conducted in 2017.

List of Websites:
http://be-wiser.eu/

Building Enterprises – Wireless and Internet Security in European Regions

Final Report Summary - BE WISER (Building Enterprises – Wireless and Internet Security in European Regions)

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