NGI_TRUST 2nd Open Call

Deadline: Dec 1, 2019  
CALL EXPIRED

NGI_TRUST is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No 825618. The NGI_Trust project is part of the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative1. NGI_TRUST aims to

• Reinforce, structure and develop the community of researchers, innovators and technology developers in the field of privacy and trust enhancing technologies

• Build on the state of the art in privacy and trust enhancing technologies by focusing support for third-party projects on a limited number of priority topics

• Improve user trust and acceptance of emerging technologies by focusing on applications and solutions that develop a more open, robust and dependable Internet and strengthen Internet Governance

• Foster the exploitation and commercialisation of the results of selected third-party projects through a tailored process of coaching and mentoring.

The project will provide financial support to third parties to meet these aims.

2 Topics addressed by the 2nd open call

Third-party projects may receive financial support if they are working on privacy and trust enhancing technologies and their application to the NGI2. In particular, the aim is to ensure that as sensors, objects, devices, AI-based algorithms, etc. are incorporated in our digital environment, that robust and easy to use technologies are developed to help users increase trust and achieve greater control when sharing their personal data, attributes and information.

More specifically, NGI TRUST will support third-party projects working in the following areas:

• Better management of consent, to give more control to the user of their data when accessing and using services.

• Technical innovation in privacy enhancing technologies, such as cryptography, federated identity, security and privacy for IoT, privacy- enhancing data transports and data at rest.

• The application of artificial intelligence3/machine learning/neural networks to serve the user’s interests.

• Bootstrapping trust at the protocol level, to maintain a trustable Internet Infrastructure.

An indicative list of possible areas of concern/opportunities (specific topics) is provided below:

• With a view to next generation certificates, how can European grid certificate authorities build up user-friendly mechanisms that promote a changed user experience and awareness and addresses forms of identity that comply with EU law and or meet specific European needs.

• DNS-based security of the Internet Infrastructure (DNSSEC, DOH approach), given the need to reinforce trust in a world of “deep fake”.

• Quantum-resistant cryptography and methods towards mitigating quantum computing attacks.

• Reinforcing reputation systems and thereby enhance the potential to measure the value of personal data and transparency while respecting GDPR principles.

• Pilot implementation of specifications, standards, acceptance criteria and measurement frameworks for new identifiers, for instance:

  • o Mobile Driving Licenses;
  • o Delegation in the context of ID;
  • o eID and authentication services to support, for instance student mobility and access to educational services, thin file individuals, disabled users, refugees, non-digital natives, lost identities due to natural disasters etc.

• Solutions that enable the user to more easily and uniformly set preferences or terms such as machine-readable privacy terms (IEEE - P7012) and technologies that help to reduce the risk that GDPR is misused to further exploit/ complicate the user experience.

• Services and technologies that enhance transparency, user intervenability, and accountability in data processing.

Proposers may use these as inspiration for developing their projects or may address additional specific topics for which they have identified a user need or market demand

The NGI_Trust consortium expects that proposals submitted to the open call will seek to develop, whenever possible, use cases that can be scaled up or deployed at European level as rapidly as possible to support practical privacy and trust enhancing solutions for the human centric internet, putting the “human being in front of the tool” and not vice-versa.

The use cases should address specific opportunities or challenges in the research and education, public sector/government and/or business sectors (or verticals). Applicants should explain how they will adopt a ‘user-centric’ approach to enhance trust and privacy by consulting or involving individuals, communities of practice or organisations in the co-design of applications and solutions.

All projects should consider the potential socio-economic impact of what they propose to develop (e.g. if uptake requires network effects, the proposals should not just develop a privacy friendly technology but also a convincing concept on how to drive uptake).

3 Who can apply for funding?

The call is open to individual or team applications (see guide for applications for further information). Teams can involve experts from various disciplines including technological, legal ethical, sociological or economic expertise.

Applicants may be legal entities or natural persons and should be registered (for organisations) or resident (for individuals) in an EU Member State or a Horizon 2020 associated country (list of countries).

4 What sorts of projects will be funded?

Three types of third-party projects will be awarded funding:

• Type 1 (viability): up to € 75,000 per project from NGI_Trust, no matching funds required. The objective is to explore and assess the technical feasibility and/or commercial potential of a breakthrough innovation that aims at enhancing privacy and trust for the NGI. Activities can include conceptual development, risk assessment, market study or intellectual property management of a new technology or service, or a new application of existing technologies. Indicative duration: 6 months.

• Type 2 (execution): up to €150,000 per project from NGI_Trust and matching funds of up to €75,000 (2/3 - 1/3 model). The objective is to fund R&D or technology development projects underpinned by a strategic plan and feasibility assessment (which can be, but need not be, developed through a Type 1 project funded by NGI_Trust). Indicative duration: 6-9 months.

• Type 3 (transition to commercialisation): up to €200,000 per project from NGI_Trust and the equivalent in matching funds (50/50). These projects should pursue the commercialisation of a privacy and trust enhancing innovation for the NGI (which can be, but need not be, developed through a Type 2 project funded by NGI_Trust). Indicative duration: up to 12 months.

  Projects will receive support in the form of technical coaching, business mentoring and IP advice from the project partners and other NGI projects.

5 How will the projects be selected?

The evaluation procedure of the proposals is set out in the Guide for Applicants. The time schedule for the 2nd open call is as follows:

• 1 October 2019: open call launched

• 1 December 2019: deadline for submission of applications

• January 2020: eligibility check and evaluations of proposals

• February 2020: Meeting of evaluation panel and of NGI_Trust Management

  board to agree on selected projects. Submission of the list of selected

  projects to European Commission for final approval.

• February 2020: contracting and signature of approved third-party grants.

• March 2020 – onward: project implementation.

The maximum duration of the third-party projects should be up to 12 months. The amount of financial support will be determined, from a value for money perspective, by the NGI_Trust Management board based on the proposed budget and planned deliverables. Maximum award to any single third-party will be €200,000 over the life-time of the NGI_TRUST project.

Sub-grants may not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit for the beneficiary (third-party grantee). Financial support will be paid in instalments against achievement of milestones

6 Application form and support to applicants

For the application form and detailed guidance for applicants, please download the files available at the NGI_TRUST Open Call pages as well as at the NGI.eu website.

The NGI_TRUST consortium will organise a number of webinars and be present at a number of events during the period February-April to discuss with interested applicants. Please check the NGI_TRUST open call wiki pages & follow our twitter account: https://twitter.com/NgiTrust if you would like to register for one of these sessions.

For further information on the call or if you have any doubts relating to the eligibility rules or the information that is to be provided in the application form, please contact the Support Team: NGI-Trust-support@lists.geant.org