Cybersecurity & Privacy Innovation Forum

Transcription

1 Cybersecurity & Privacy Innovation Forum Collaborative Security Research within European Programs: Heaven or Hell for SMEs? Klaus-Michael Koch, Technikon/Austria

2 Overview TECHNIKON an Austrian SME Our Experience/Track Record Partner Assignments Safeguard your Knowledge Public Support/Funding Research Activities Sustainable Engagement Conclusion 2

3 TECHNIKON Forschungs- und Planungsgesellschaft mbh, Austria Small Research Service Company in Austria Dedicated towards research services for the industry Planning, organization and management of research activities Developing Hardware-Software entangled security solutions Patents in the field of physical uncloneable functions 20 people from several nations, 100% multidisciplinary academics Recurrent winner of national and international prices for our innovation work and social responsibility Austrian Headquarter for WiTEC Europe Women in Science, Engineering and Technology 3

4 Experience with European Collaborative Security Research Programs Participation within more than 50 EC projects Mostly as coordinator and sometimes as partner Hands-on experience within FP5, FP6, FP7 and H2020 Performing security research in the framework of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies), SECURITY (Security Research Program), GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), or the CIP (Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Program) Research Project Parameters 4 38 partners 2 4 years of duration 2 12 million Euro funding 4

5 Partner Assignments Small portion of funding and resources Contributes with technological niche know-how Invited by larger core partners during formulation of project Legal (consulting) experts are rarely emerging Ride in the slipstream of large enterprises Seldom shape/steer the direction of the project Appear as Spin-out/off of Industrial players Assignments increase/change with duration of project SME flexibility attracts contribution shifts Get assigned forgotten or underestimated actions items Fulfil SME quota for Evaluation Issue more or less vanished with high competition in H2020 5

6 Safeguard your knowledge Evolvement of project foci Scientifically driven topics in FP6/FP7 (mock-up; prototype) Impact driven H2020 developments are closer to products IPR opportunities Close cooperation with global players Market opportunities of new technologies become visible Forced dissemination creates /supports visibility of results/solutions IPR challenges Big players tend to hide their key knowledge merely any active leakage Exploration space gets confined/caged by key players Foreground exploitation gets prevented by CA restrictions Leakage of own foreground without IPR protection open access/data (loss of selling proposition) Additional remarks Consortium Agreements FP6/FP7 (straight forward ), H2020 (major issue) Be self-confident and attentive during the CA preparation process 6

7 Public Support/Funding Funding rates are quite favourable Most SMEs claimed flat overhead rate (20/25/60) Overhead rates of SMEs tend to lie between 20 and 45% Funding = Personal costs * 1,25 (H2020 overhead rate) = 125% Emerging cash flow issue Pre financing changed over time FP6/FP7/H2020 Long reporting (18 months) and final clearing periods (6-18 months) Reporting burden/risks Reporting errors created by missing experience lead during subsequent EC evaluation (after project end) to unexpected loss of public funding SME personal rates (EUR/PM) are erratic - forecasts are difficult National co-financing bare additional risks (e.g. contract issued after project has ended) 7

8 Have a goal and stick to it Research Direction Define the technology challenges your are facing and make it to the core topic of the project; Be prepared for partner changes and missing competences within the consortium: Lead partners are often not flexible enough to compensate or derive solutions; SMEs are forced to do more work than foreseen in the DoA Moving from technology development to prototyping SMEs are seen as gofers for integration and prototyping work (GUI; interfaces, programs, mock-ups; simulations, Models, etc.) Harvest the information accessible (mandatory exploitation roadmaps) through project partners to find and create new market opportunities; Cultural differences in research Universities are looking for scientific merits; Business issues are out of focus; Academic elaborations carry the potential to worry potential customers; Research Institutions & Industry have the power to overtake prosperous business areas 8

9 Sustainable Engagement Build your Community Select leading-edge partners and establish a trusted environment Project participation helps for head hunting (attracting good people) and gives high visibility (early) Be quick Three years seem to be long the project years pass rather quickly; Start looking at half time for proceeding cooperation with current or future partners; Optimize National projects to expand and safeguard your core competence Access to global know-how and market expertise through EC research Networking with potential customers and product testing in EC pilots Exploit Fight plagiarism and carve out your own results Go for simple solutions and file your patents quickly 9

10 Conclusion Enter EC programs with national experience Be reliable, self-confident and meticulous Create your own research ecosystem Seek long-term trusted partners Optimize your engagement Be prepared for pitfalls Carve out and exploit your results Protect your background and safeguard your foreground Aim for fair and reasonable conditions in CA Collaborative Cybersecurity Research Key enabler for new technologies Creates momentum for your product development Opens up new market opportunities 10