The transport network is among the so-called Critical Infrastructures' (CIs), which are essential to maintaining the vital functions of the Single Market. While it is by nature a large-scale interconnected and interdependent system to efficiently move people and goods, its complexity also makes it more vulnerable in the event of a disruption and generates economic impact on a European scale. Due to the increasing cross-border interdependencies between services provided using critical infrastructures in these sectors, an interruption in one MS may have implications in other MS or in the Union as a whole. In December 2022, Council Recommendation 2023/C 20/01 suggested giving priority to four of the eleven sectors mentioned in the CER Directive, including transport. Although transport is recognised as a key sector to be protected, freight transport is underrepresented in terms of previous research projects. As supply chains become more complex and global, they rely more on logistics infrastructures that must be resilient to provide seamless transport. Since freight transport terminals are locations where goods are assembled and dispersed, they have always been a focus of security and safety concerns. The overarching objective of TRANSCEND is to provide freight transport critical infrastructure operators with an integrated set of advanced tools, guidelines and technological solutions to reduce risk, and enhance the protection and resilience of their critical infrastructure and interrelated critical infrastructures against physical, cyber and hybrid threats.​ The contributions will be integrated into a Control Tower, a digital platform with embedded business intelligence giving stakeholders a shared and continuous visibility of threats and risks by breaking down silos within and between organisations. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach, five diverse CIs will experiment methodological and technological solutions as pilots: three leaders and two followers.

In the domain of Cybersecurity Research and innovation, European scientists hold pioneering positions in fields such as cryptography, formal methods, or secure components. Yet this excellence on focused domains does not translate into larger-scale, system-level advantages. Too often, scattered and small teams fall short of critical mass capabilities, despite demonstrating world-class talent and results. Europe’s strength is in its diversity, but that strength is only materialised if we cooperate, combine, and develop common lines of research. Given today’s societal challenges, this has become more than an advantage – an urgent necessity. Various approaches are being developed to enhance collaboration at many levels. Europe’s framework programs have sprung projects in cybersecurity over the past thirty years, encouraging international cooperation and funding support actions. More recently, the Cybersecurity PPP has brought together public institutions and industrial actors around common roadmaps and projects. While encouraging, these efforts have highlighted the need to break the mould, to step up investments and intensify coordination. The SPARTA proposal brings together a unique set of actors at the intersection of scientific excellence, technological innovation, and societal sciences in cybersecurity. Strongly guided by concrete and risky challenges, it will setup unique collaboration means, leading the way in building transformative capabilities and forming world-leading expertise centres. Through innovative governance, ambitious demonstration cases, and active community engagement, SPARTA aims at re-thinking the way cybersecurity research is performed in Europe across domains and expertise, from foundations to applications, in academia and industry.