Digital Europe programme call: Cybersecurity Skills Academy (DIGITAL-2023-SKILLS-05-CYBERACADEMY)

The call for proposals 'DIGITAL-2023-SKILLS-05: Advanced Digital Skills' under the Digital Europe Programme, including the Cybersecurity Skills Academy topic (DIGITAL-2023-SKILLS-05-CYBERACADEMY - Cybersecurity Skills Academy) is now published on the Funding and Tenders portal. The call will be open for applications from 21 November 2023 until 21 March 2024.

Background 

In 2022, the shortage of cybersecurity professionals in the European Union ranged between 260,000 and 500,000. There is a need to have more cybersecurity professionals to meet increasing market needs and legal obligations, such as the NIS2 Directive, the Cyber Resilience Act or sector-specific legislation. To address the cybersecurity talent gap, the Commission adopted a communication on a Cybersecurity Skills Academy in Spring 2023.

The Academy constitutes a European framework for action, providing political goals and mechanisms for cooperation, to integrate various learning and training activities with the objective of increasing their visibility, accessibility and impact.

Scope

Proposals should address only one of the Activities below (either Activity 1 or 2).

Activity 1: Training programmes for SMEs, start-ups and the public sector for the Cybersecurity Skills Academy

It is intended that more proposals will be funded under Activity 1. Proposals selected under Activity 1 shall closely cooperate with the proposal selected under Activity 2 below.

Activity 2: The Cybersecurity Skills Academy: support operations 

It is intended that only one proposal will be funded under Activity 2. The typical size of a project under this Activity should be up to 2M EUR of the EU grant amount. Please note that activities relating to the functioning of the organisation (e.g. installing/outfitting of training and/or meeting rooms with floors, electrical systems, air conditioning, furniture, physical security controls, fire sensors, cables and sockets, etc.) will not be supported under this Topic. Additionally, projects funded under this topic will be requested to collaborate with the Coordination and support action (CSA) selected by the call topic DIGITAL-2023- SKILLS-05-SPECIAL-PROGEDU. This CSA will provide different support and collaboration activities to the projects selected under this topic and complimentary support to the Activity 2 will be explored.

Outcomes and deliverables

The expected deliverables must include the following in line with Activity 1:

• Trainings to address the most in-demand skills, including but not limited to, cyber-forensics, cyber ranges, malware analysis and artificial intelligence (AI) for cybersecurity among others; 
• On-the-job trainings and traineeships opportunities for SMEs and for public administrations in innovative companies in cybersecurity and cybersecurity competence centres; 
• Online training, user friendly and accessible to everyone in all EU languages; 
• The availability of the training courses in at least 3 EU languages through available EU platforms, such as the Digital Skills & Jobs Platform or through ENISA’s repository.

The expected outcomes of the projects addressing Activity 1 should include increase in high-quality European cybersecurity trainings and boosted cybersecurity skills of people in Europe. 

The expected deliverables must include the following in line with Activity 2:

• Approach for establishing a cybersecurity competence recognition and professional certification in the European market, considering standardisation of cyber skills;
• Measurement framework and its monitoring during the proposed project’s duration, along the goals of the Academy in line with its related Communication; 
• Cooperation framework with relevant players, public and private, from across the EU, including representatives from Member States, the ECCC and ENISA, as well as EU-funded projects on cyber skills, notably projects funded under the Digital Europe Programme; 
• Promotion and communication approach, leveraging existing channels and platforms, including the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform.

The expected outcomes of the projects addressing Activity 2 should include successful analysis, collaboration and communication activities supporting the goals of the Cybersecurity Skills Academy.

Targeted stakeholders

Consortia applying for funding under this Topic may be composed of the following types of entities: higher education institutions, vocational education and training institutions, public administration services, research organisations, businesses and national cybersecurity competence centres. 

Type of action 

Simple Grants — 50% funding rate