(ISC)² Women's Cybersecurity Scholarship

Ensuring comprehensive geographical coverage of the Network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs) is sponsored by European Commission — Digital Europe Programme. Expected Outcome: Deliverables: Provision of the four key elements required of a Safer Internet Centre, namely: A centre for raising awareness among children, parents/carers, teachers and educators as well as other relevant professionals working with children about online opportunities and risks for the under 18s, producing and promoting localised age-appropriate resources to address current and emerging risks and opportunities. A helpline to give advice and support to parents and children on issues related to children's use of digital technologies and services; to provide assistance on mental health issues relating to the exposure to age-inappropriate content online, including pornographic and violent content; to strengthen support to victims of cyberbullying, close cooperation with the national Child Helpline 116111 service is required. A hotline for tackling the spread of online CSAM (i.e., receiving, analysing, and processing reports of such material). Closer cooperation with law enforcement and the private sector should be further explored in the context of the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse and the proposed Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse and recast of the Directive 2011/93/EU on child sexual abuse. A youth panel to engage directly with children from different demographic groups, including the organisation of regular youth participation activities, allowing them to express their views and pool their knowledge and experience of using online technologies. Adequate turnover, geographic balance and an open selection of participants is required. Objective: The objective of the topic is to contribute to protection and empowerment of children online, a key EU priority, through comprehensive geographical coverage of national Safer Internet Centres (SICs) network in the EU. Notably: It seeks to enhance geographical coverage by engaging Safer Internet Centres that have not received EU funding under the previous call DIGITAL-2025-BESTUSE-08-NETWORKSICs. Only one Safer Internet Centre will be co-funded per country. SICs may be composed of one or more NGOs, government bodies/agencies, and/or private sector organisations and they provide online safety information, educational resources, public awareness tools and counselling and reporting services (through dedicated helplines and hotlines) for young people, teachers/educators, and parents/carers. The activities performed by the SICs help minors tackle online risks and become media-literate, resilient, digital citizens. The hotline work strand allows the public to anonymously report suspected online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) for assessment and takedown. The Safer Internet Centres also address the needs of children with specific or special needs, including those with disabilities and those hailing from disadvantaged and vulnerable backgrounds, to ensure no child is left behind. Considering the new role for the Commission as an enforcement body for the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs), the Safer Internet Centres will strategically assist the Commission and cooperate with the DSCs in this role, in particular through data collection in the EU member states. Scope: The funding will ensure the continuation of the well-established European network of national SICs, by enabling the awarded consortia to provide at least: A centre for raising awareness among children, parents/carers, teachers and educators as well as other relevant professionals working with children about online opportunities and risks for the under 18s. The focus will be to identify and address: specific and general known risks (e.g. harmful and illegal content, cyberbullying, age-inappropriate content; sexual extortion, addictive design and manipulation, disinformation); specific and general emerging risks (e.g. new apps, games, online challenges and trends; AI and generative AI, including AI generated pornographic and viole Programme areas: DIGITAL Keywords: Artificial intelligence, intelligent systems, multi agent systems, Civil society organisations, Combating violence against children, young people and women, Communication, Communication network, Computer and information sciences, Computer sciences - Operating systems (software development only), Computing, Continuing professional training, Curriculum design and development, Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Domains, Cybersecurity-aware culture (e.g. including children education), Data Security and Privacy, Data protection, Digital Rights Management (DRM), Education, Education and Training, Education-enterprises partnerships, Enhancing personal skills, Europe's innovation potential, Gamification, Gaming technology, Higher education, IT skills and competence, Identification of skills needs, Inclusive Education, Innovation, Involvement of children, Knowledge triangle between education, Learning outcomes, Media literacy, Network technologies / Internetworking, Networks (communication networks, sensor networks, networks of robots, etc.), New skills and competences for teachers, New technologies for Audio-Visual sector - Media, Personal development, Personalised prevention, Privacy, Privacy by design, Quality of education/educational products, Rights of the child, Social Media, Teaching materials, Telecommunications, Theories, techniques and tools for the identification, collection, attribution, acquisition, analysis and preservation of digital evidence, Training, Training of trainers (multiplication), Trust, Trust management architectures, mechanisms and policies, Trustworthy ICT, Virtual Reality, Vocational training, Youth policy, BIK+, Better Internet for Kids, CSAM, Digital Services Act, Network of safer Internet Centres, SICs, Safer Internet Centres, UN General Comment No. 25, awareness centre, carers, children, counsellingcyberbullying, educational resources, helpline, hotline, online child sexual abuse material, online safety, parents, professionals working with children, public awareness tools, special needs, special or specific needs, teachers and educators, victims of cyberbullying, xenophobia, youth