SecurIST: co-ordinating the development of a strategic research agenda for security and dependability R&D

There has been much discussion about the emergence of the knowledge society. The engine driving the creation of this society is an ICT framework based on the convergence of media, processes and communications networks delivering ubiquitous access to knowledge irrespective of location. Much of the ICT research agenda is focused on the specification of this framework. The proposed systems are highly complex requiring the interconnection of highly complex infrastructures and systems. The pervasiveness of ICT in this new society creates challenges in terms of privacy, access control, trust and reliability. The development of an effective secure and dependable environment is crucial for the effective delivery of the knowledge society. The creation of a knowledge society within Europe requires that Europe position itself at the forefront of research in this area. The key challenges for Europe are to develop security solutions, which can guarantee dependability and resilience of ICT infrastructures and well as provide management and control capabilities for these networks. The IST FP6 project SecurIST is addressing the challenge of developing a European strategic security research agenda for post FP6, designed to drive the development of the security research program for FP7. The project acts as a catalyst bringing together the key research scientists and industry decision makers to develop this agenda. Participation in the development of this agenda is open to all organisations interested in making a contribution to developing a European security and dependability research agenda. The project has ensured uptake of its outputs by creating a security advisory board composed of key industrial experts and decision makers charged with providing guidance to the project in the development of the security research agenda and in promoting the projects outputs to industry. This paper provides a brief overview of SecurIST and an introduction to the security task force initiatives that have been formed. Companies and projects wishing to join these initiatives can still register their interests at www.securitytaskforce.org