State of play and challenges of European security research to be discussed in Helsinki

The Security Research Event (SRE) will bring together international security experts in Helsinki on 6–7 November 2019 to take stock of the state of play and the challenges of security research in Europe. This side event of Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union will be co-hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and the European Commission. One of the keynote speakers will be Finland’s Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo.

The Security Research Event (SRE) will be attended by some 400 security experts, including researchers, businesses, policy-makers and internal security actors, such as the rescue services, the police and border security authorities.

"In a rapidly changing environment, security research must keep up with the latest developments to enable us to use research outcomes to their full potential. We need a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach in order to deal with increasingly complex and diverse threats and, at the same time, benefit from opportunities created by novel technologies, such as artificial intelligence," says Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo.

Synergies between funding schemes

The seminar will focus on the importance of deepening the synergies between the different internal security funding schemes. Stronger collaboration is designed to facilitate a better uptake of the outcomes of research and innovation projects and bring them to efficient use by public authorities and other security actors.

The Security Research Event will present the outcomes of EU-funded projects in the field of security, financed from sources such as the Horizon Europe research and innovation framework programme and the Internal Security Fund (ISF).

Border security, terrorism, hybrid threats and artificial intelligence

The topics of the panel discussions – border security, terrorism, hybrid threats and artificial intelligence – will be addressed from the research perspective.

"We need close cooperation and exchanges of information between politicians, businesses, research communities and the rest of society to be able to counter hybrid threats and understand the linkages between seemingly disconnected events. The ‘comprehensive security’ concept, developed in Finland, has been recognised internationally as an exemplary model for anticipating hybrid threats," says Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior Ilkka Salmi.

He will participate in the panel discussion on hybrid threats.

Inquiries:

Hanna-Miina Sihvonen, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 488 527, hanna-miina.sihvonen@intermin.fi