The activities of the EU Fight against Crime and Terrorism (FCT) security research aim to support prevention of crime-and/or terrorism-related incidents, their detection or mitigation of their potential consequences. Infrastructure Resilience (INFRA) security research aims to support the ability to reduce the magnitude and/or duration of disruptive events, coming from physical and/or cyber attacks, covering a wide range of sectors (such as transport, energy, healthcare, smart communities, finance, water, space etc).
To accomplish this, new technologies and capabilities are required. They address the fight against and the prevention of crime, notably various forms of organised crime and cybercrime, illegal trafficking and terrorism, along with understanding and tackling terrorist ideas and beliefs. Indeed, human and societal aspects of crime, namely radicalisation, child sexual abuse and domestic violence are equally important, whilst respecting fundamental rights, including privacy, protection of personal data and the free movement of persons. Horizontal issues are also tackled, such as forensics, research data, platforms, involvement of practitioners, and the uptake of project results. Infrastructures operate and function in a rapidly evolving socio-technological and threat environment with increasingly interconnected networks highly reliant upon one another, which presents both risks and opportunities for their protection. They must be resilient towards different expected and unexpected events, emerging risks, be they natural or human-made, unintentional, accidental or with malicious intent.
To this end, the CERIS FCT, incl. INFRA, provides a platform to share information related to research and innovation in the area of the Fight against Crime and Terrorism and Infrastructure Resilience, across the Member States. It brings together the latest policy and research developments in an easily accessible format and supports those responsible for countering the various crime and terrorism threats facing our society. In practical terms, regular CERIS events covering FCT and INFRA activities serve as a forum for tackling key challenges in on-going FCT and INFRA projects as well as for information exchanges between various actors of EU-funded security research: researchers, policy makers, practitioners, industry and citizens. As such, these events often result in the identification of gaps and needs that could, among others, represent an input to future EU FCT and INFRA security research requirements, directions and priorities. CERIS events addressing FCT and INFRA activities lead to the improvement of synergies between research, capacity-building, demonstration and training projects as well as industrial developments.