NGI TRUST supports the development of a human-centric Internet by developing a stronger European ecosystem of researchers, innovators and technology developers in the field of privacy and trust enhancing technologies.
NGI TRUST supports third-party projects working in the following areas:
- Better management of consent, to give more control to the user of their data when accessing and using services.
- Technical innovation in privacy enhancing technologies, such as cryptography, federated identity, security and privacy for IoT, privacy-enhancing data transports and data at rest.
- The application of artificial intelligence/machine learning/neural networks to serve the user’s interests.
- Bootstrapping trust at the protocol level, to maintain a trustable Internet Infrastructure.
Four main objectives:
- Reinforce, structure and develop the community of researchers, innovators and technology developers in the field of privacy and trust enhancing tech.
- Build on the state of the art in privacy and trust enhancing technologies: focusing support for third-party projects in a limited number of priority topics.
- Improve user trust and acceptance of emerging technology: using applications and solutions to develop a more open and reliable Internet + strengthen Internet Governance.
- Foster the exploitation and commercialisation of the results of selected third-party projects through a tailored process of coaching and mentoring.
The partnership for innovative technological solutions to ensure privacy and enhance trust for the human-centric Internet.
Project partners
Specifically, the following may apply, either on an individual basis or as a consortium:
- Researchers and developers (holding a master’s degree or higher) employed in third-level education institutes, research infrastructures, not for profit organisations and charitable (scientific) foundations and public research centres.
- Internet technologists and innovators, privacy and trust specialists and action groups
- Organisations/companies with relevant privacy and trust cases or concerns in specific sectors or ‘verticals’ (fields such as health, etc.).
- Micro, small and medium sized enterprises firms working on internet technologies.
Applicants may be legal entities or natural persons and should be registered (for organisations) or resident (for individuals) in an EU Member State or a Horizon 2020 associated country.
NGI_Trust open call third-party projects
Three types of third-party projects will be awarded funding:
- Type 1 (viability): up to € 75,000 per project from NGI_Trust, no matching funds required. The objective is to explore and assess the technical feasibility and/or commercial potential of a breakthrough innovation that aims at enhancing privacy and trust for the NGI. Activities can include conceptual development, risk assessment, market study or intellectual property management of a new technology or service, or a new application of existing technologies. Indicative duration: 6 months.
- Type 2 (execution): up to €150,000 per project from NGI_Trust and matching funds of up to €75,000 (2/3 – 1/3 model). The objective is to fund R&D or technology development projects underpinned by a strategic plan and feasibility assessment (which can be, but need not be, developed through a Type 1 project funded by NGI_Trust). Indicative duration: 6-9 months.
- Type 3 (transition to commercialisation): up to €200,000 per project from NGI_Trust and the equivalent in matching funds (50/50). These projects should pursue the commercialisation of a privacy and trust enhancing innovation for the NGI (which can be, but need not be, developed through a Type 2 project funded by NGI_Trust). Indicative duration: up to 12 months.
Funded Projects
NGI_Trust has funded 57 projects to support its goal of developing a human-centric Internet through a stronger European ecosystem of researchers, innovators and technology developers in the field of privacy and trust enhancing technologies. The projects were funded across 3 different calls and we have broken them down into nine thematic areas, as described below.
We need to move beyond passwords, and find a better way for users to manage the complexity of shared secrets and technical trust. 4 projects will work in this area, with projects looking at how we can use our mobile devices more effectively as tokens instead of the need for passwords, how we can better protect data on our mobile devices, and how we can improve the way that cryptography is used on hardware and in the core of our internet infrastructure. For more information see these projects: Keyn, COP-MODE, CryRev, and TCN.
It is essential for us to provide better privacy, particularly in areas where data is more sensitive and in how we present privacy information to our users. 5 projects will look at how we can both protect and utilise health data, how we deal with managing large amounts of data in the cloud and how we can better support users in understanding the legal issues around consenting to use services. For more information see these projects: b-smart, Edge-TINC, CAP-A, Deep Learning and MyPCH.
Safer browsing is essential to an ecosystem of privacy and trust. 3 projects will look at providing better informed safety for children online that doesn’t block access unnecessarily to useful information, how we can improve VPN technology to provide a better user experience and how we can support the users needs more effectively in internet search rather than being driven by the wants of advertisers. For more information see these projects: CASPER, D4S, and ISIBUD.
To achieve a truly human-centric Internet, we need to have user control. The complexity and options when navigating a globally connected internet can be a daunting task. 6 projects will focus on user control to ease the decision making and customisation of settings to give the user a role in their internet. For more information see these projects: Cozy Cloud, EUACTIVE, DECIDE, Protect Yourself, INSTANT, and Decentralised Messaging.
The Impact of AI is being seen in the daily lives of all of us, with growing concerns about the security and privacy of the Internet of Things. NGI_Trust has funded 6 projects in this area in call 2 looking at issues such as bias and fairness in AI, data stored by and used by cars, IoT sensors, machine learning, IoT certification and more. For more information see these projects: AMNESIA, COSCA, FAIR-AI, IZI, SePrice and TRUSTRULES.
Putting humans back at the centre of our technology is a core goal for NGI_Trust, and call 2 is funding 5 projects with a focus on the Human-Centric Internet. These projects will focus on mapping human-trust to technical solutions, support for marginalised and disabled users, designing privacy in UX design and security of sensitive data. For more information see these projects: BitofTrust, DECTS, LegiCrowd, PRIMAL and TrustedUX.
Many of the tools we use in our daily lives are now critical to how we live and work, but often have security and design flaws that are overlooked for usability reasons. In Call 2, NGI_Trust has funded 4 projects to focus on building Stronger Tools, including use of cryptography in modern collaboration tools, the use of quantum-cryptography, and improved tooling for supporting digital rights. For more information see these projects: Cryptpad, MQ2M, CUBBIT and SID:SO&C.
Our interactions online often require us to make use of digital identity solutions and it is challenging for users to understand the best way to share, and not share, personally identifiable information. NGI_Trust has funded 4 projects to provide Effective Identity solutions to users. These projects look at a wide range of identity problems such as payment solutions and file transfer solutions without identity management, provenance of identity information and issues with the “privacy paradox” of when to share information. For more information please see these projects: DISSENS, MW4ALL, MidPrivacy and PURPETS.
There is a strong interest in personal data management with the desire to both give users more control of their own data and to reduce the amount of data in the hands of commercial companies. DAppNode, Cassiopeia, PaE Consent Gateway, Solid4DS, APPSE and GeoWallet will look at these issues from a variety of different angles including data sovereignty, control of mobility data and policy requirements.
Alongside security and privacy, we need to think about data ethics and fundamental principles about data usage and the safety of users based on this data. This category includes projects looking at ethical issues with licensing, fake news, safety issues with vehicle data and access to the internet for children. 5 projects are in this category: IRIS, DeepFake, Casper 2.0, FAIR-AI 2.0 and TruVeLedger.
The growing use of smart devices at home, in offices and on the move creates significant issues with securing the Internet of Things. MedIAM, TOTEM, PRIMA, IoTrust, and PY-2.0 will explore the many use cases in which we rely on IoT approaches, including smart medical devices, the connected home and remote working, privacy concerns in data collection and security of devices.
We have the opportunity of advancing identity approaches as we learn more about how our identities are used online. AnonymAI, MW4ALL 2.0, Keyn 2.0 and MidScale will look at issues including identity free approaches to every-day tasks, automatic anonymisation of data and strengthening identity management systems. Several of these projects are projects advancing ideas already explored in previous NGI_Trust funding rounds.
Partners: European Future Innovation System (EFIS) Centre, European Business & Innovation Centre Network (EBN), Kantara Initiative Europe, GÉANT, Fraunhofer IAO, Fundacion Tecnalia Research & Innovation.
NGI Trust coordinator: Alasdair Reid <reid@efiscentre.eu>
Website: wiki.geant.org/display/NGITrust
Twitter: @NgiTrust