OTS strategically focused on identifying new funding opportunities for its research activities and the development of innovative products, while also strengthening collaborative relationships with European organizations and companies. In this context, OTS actively participated in the implementation of two projects funded by the European Union. As part of these initiatives, the kick-off meeting for the project “CS-AWARE” was successfully held in Oulu, Finland, from 4 to 6 September 2017.

CS-AWARE – “A cybersecurity situational awareness and information-sharing solution for local public administrations based on advanced big data analytics” was funded by the European Union through the Horizon 2020 framework. The meeting brought together representatives from public and private organizations as well as research institutions from nine European countries—Finland, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Ireland—including representatives from OTS.

The CS-AWARE project spanned 36 months and focused on research and innovation in the field of cybersecurity, addressing secure information exchange, cyber-attack detection, and the analysis of self-healing mechanisms for small and medium-scale public-sector IT infrastructures.

The solution was piloted in the Metropolitan Municipality of Rome, comprising 15 municipalities and approximately 27,000 permanent employees, as well as in the Municipality of Larissa, with the municipalities of Kileler and Elassona acting as supporting partners. CS-AWARE demonstrated strong potential as a valuable tool for public authorities, enhancing cybersecurity awareness, delivering timely automated alerts for potential security threats, supporting system self-recovery following cyber incidents, and facilitating the exchange of threat intelligence across the dedicated EU network.