Estonia and South Moravia are teaming up to support the EU's safe transition to a digital society.
The Cyber-security Excellence Hub in Estonia and South Moravia (CHESS) integrates leading cybersecurity institutions and aims to capitalize on the strengths of both regions to address important Europe-wide challenges. South Moravia is a major ICT industry & education powerhouse of the Czech Republic, with a focused and coherent smart specialization strategy targeting cybersecurity. Estonia is among the most advanced digital societies globally, with exceptional e-government infrastructure.
CHESS aims to bridge the research-innovation gaps by connecting fundamental researchers with economic and societal exploitation. The project will develop a joint cross-border cybersecurity research and innovation strategy focusing on six challenge areas: Internet of Secure Things, Security certification, Verification of trustworthy software, Security preservation in blockchain, Post-quantum cryptography, and Human-centric aspects of cyber-security. The strategy development is aided by the implementation of pilot R&I projects that reinforce cross-regional collaboration, engage regional innovation ecosystems and build evidence for future projects. On top of that, CHESS will create a unique network of interactions beyond its consortium, connecting the strengths of South Moravia (certification, human-centric research) and Estonia (blockchain, post-quantum cryptography, e-government) to facilitate a secure transition to full-scale digital societies.
The overall objectives of the CHESS projects are:
1. A cross-border joint Cybersecurity R&I strategy aligned with Czech and Estonian smart specialisation strategies in ICT.
2. Action and investment plans for implementation of the strategy in each of its six focus areas of cybersecurity.
3. Initiation of at least 12 small-scale R&I projects consolidating academia business linkages to demonstrate validity of ideas and provide evidence to obtain additional investments.
4. A training strategy for both regions to increase cross-border and sectoral cooperation and increase needed skills around the six priority areas.
5. Raising citizen engagement, technology transfer, staff exchange and mutual learning.
