The designation is due to the fact that INCIBE meets all the requirements to be elected as National Coordination Centre: it is a public sector entity that performs public administrative functions, has extensive experience in the sector and expertise in technology, research and innovation, and has established itself as a benchmark entity for the development of cybersecurity and digital assurance for citizens, academic and research networks, professionals, companies, and particularly for strategic sectors. 

The national coordination centres will serve as the contact and coordination point of the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre at national level and will cooperate with other relevant actors, industry, the public sector, the academic research community and citizens, taking the national and regional cybersecurity challenges of each country into account. 

Its mission also includes the implementation of cross-border projects and joint actions funded through the EU, which are incorporated into the national productive fabric through instruments such as cascade funding that enable the granting of aid to third parties. In this way, technical and economic support can be provided, above all to SMEs, by facilitating access to knowledge, connection to potential markets and access to funding.

Furthermore, the national coordination centres have the mission of creating a public-private community of competences at national level, which brings together the current knowledge in the field and helps to outline national priorities for research and capacity building, taking into account the specific circumstances, characteristics and level of maturity in this field in each country.

Digital Europe Programme

The Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) is a new EU funding programme focused on making digital technology available to businesses, citizens and public authorities. This initiative will provide strategic funding, supporting projects in five key areas: supercomputing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advanced digital skills and ensuring widespread use of digital technologies in the economy and society. It aims to accelerate economic recovery and support the digital transformation of Europe's society and economy, to the benefit of all, but in particular small and medium-sized enterprises.

Thus, INCIBE, as National Coordination Centre of the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre, will apply to one of the 7 announcements of the new cybersecurity support lines launched today, specifically to the Digital ECCC 2022 Cyber Natcoordination, whose main objective is to promote the Cybersecurity Competence Community in each Member State, helping them to acquire the necessary capacity for its implementation. With this funding, the National Coordination Centres will support cybersecurity capacity building at European, national, regional and local level and foster cross-border cooperation and the preparation of joint actions by supporting stakeholders in the application phase of ECCC managed projects.

The duration of the funding will be two years with a financing of 50% of the project costs and a maximum contribution of 1 million Euro for the development and operation of the National Coordination Centre and 1 million Euro that can be requested for financial support to third parties to reinforce the adoption and dissemination of state-of-the-art cybersecurity solutions.

What is INCIBE?

The National Institute of Cybersecurity is an entity attached to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, through the Secretary of State for Digitisation and Artificial Intelligence, consolidated as a benchmark entity for the development of cybersecurity and digital assurance for citizens and companies. It is also a driver of social transformation and an opportunity for innovation, fostering R&D&I and talent.