Connect4Cyber – Info and Brokerage Day, 23 April 2026

This one-day matchmaking event will bring together participants from Sweden, Finland, Estonia and across Europe. The aim of the event is to increase knowledge about current EU funding opportunities for cybersecurity projects within the Horizon programme, support consortium building and enhance knowledge exchange.

Connect4Cyber is intended for organisations interested in applying for cybersecurity calls within the Horizon Europe programme, Cluster 3, mainly universities, research institutes, industry and SMEs.

The event will focus on the following cybersecurity calls for proposals within the Horizon Europe programme, open until 15 September, 2026:

Enhancing the Security, Privacy and Robustness of AI Models and Systems (SecureAI)

Advanced cryptographic schemes and High-Assurance high-speed cryptographic implementations

Approaches and tools for security in software and hardware development and assessment

Preliminary Programme

9:30 | Registration & Coffee  

• Emma Söderberg, Head of NCC-SE/Head of Section at the Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency
• Stefan Sundman, Head of Office at the National Cyber Security Centre Sweden (NCSC-SE)

10:45 | The Value of EU Funding and Nordic and Baltic Participation in EU-funded Cybersecurity Projects

• Luca Tagliaretti, Executive Director of the ECCC

11:15 | From Concept to Implementation – Building Consortia, Collaboration, and Partnerships

• Moderator: Isaac Mintz, Chief Operating Officer, NCC-SE
• Luca Tagliaretti, Executive Director of the ECCC
• Dr. Päivi Mattila, Chief Advisor, Turku University of Applied Science
• Johan Lindberg, Advisor/National Contact Point Horizon Europe Cluster 4: Digital issues, industry and space , Vinnova

11:45 | Short Break

12:00 | Information on current EU calls for application

• ECCC operational team

12:30 | Lunch Break

13:30 | TBC

14:00 | Pitching Session (4 min increments, up to 15 pitches)

15:15 | Networking Mingle

16:45 | End of Connect4Cyber

The programme will be updated with additional details as they become available. 

Connect4Cyber Pitching session

Interested participants have the possibility to present their project ideas in the pitching session.

Instructions:

• Participants interested in pitching are invited to indicate their interest in the registration form and submit their slides by 13 April 2026 to connect4cyber@mcf.se.
• If the number of submitted pitches exceeds the available time reserved for the pitching session, the organisers will select presentations based on their relevance to the themes and objectives of the event. All those who have submitted pitch slides will be informed of the outcome prior to the event.
• Participants may use their own slide design, but the slides are recommended to include at least the following information:
  • Name of the presenter and the organisation
  • Summary of the project idea, objectives, expected outcomes and impacts, and/or the organisation’s expertise and potential role in the project
  • Description of desired consortium partners
  • Calls in which your organisation is interested
• Each presentation is up to four minutes.
• One separate slide set is requested per pitch. If a participant has multiple project ideas, please submit a separate slide set for each.
• Presentations received after the deadline may be considered if there is still time available during the pitching session.
• All pitching presentations (including those not presented during the event due to time constraints) will be uploaded at www.ncc-se.se, unless the contributors request otherwise. If you prefer not to share your presentation, please let us know when submitting it.

Regsstration 

To register, please go to the Connect4Cyber registration page. The deadline for registration is Monday, April 13, 2026, at 17:00 (CET).  

Participation is limited to 100 people. The organisers reserve the right to select participants in order to ensure the  event’s target audience and purpose are met.

For event-related questions, please contact connect4cyber@mcf.se or you respective national coordination centre.