Justice Minister David Ford has encouraged organisations across Northern Ireland to apply for funding through the new EU funding initiative, Horizon 2020.
The Minister was speaking as he opened the first all-Ireland Horizon 2020 Secure Societies event at the QUB Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology.
Horizon 2020 is Europe’s largest EU innovation and research programme with nearly €80billion available over the next six years. The event aimed to promote the Secure Societies strand of the funding programme, as well as inform participants of the upcoming funding calls. The UK and Irish Horizon 2020 National Delegates for the Secure Societies strand spoke to an audience from the public sector, industry and voluntary and Community sectors about the new Secure Societies funding calls, providing lessons learnt from previous funding rounds and an insight into future calls for the coming years.
Speaking at the event, David Ford said: “I would encourage full participation in the Secure Societies funding programme, particularly considering the benefits of cross-border collaboration in previous funding projects. I am pleased that the Northern Ireland Contact Point for the Secure Societies strand of the programme sits within my Department and I would urge those interested to establish contact with the Department of Justice.
“Funding calls under the Secure Societies strand of Horizon 2020 provide huge scope for the justice and security sectors on both sides of the border to boost its research and innovation capacity. As Minister of Justice I have a keen interest in the potential of some of the opportunities in this area. By coupling research and innovation, we are investing in our future to drive economic growth and create jobs, as well as make our society safer.”