Keywords

Introduction

In EU projects, clustering performs a crucial role in enabling collaboration and innovation among different stakeholders in a particular industry or field. Clusters are groups of companies, research institutions, and other organisations that are geographically and sectorally concentrated and work together to achieve common goals. Clusters and sister project communities are a significant part of the dissemination and communication strategies in EU-funded projects to promote outputs and exchange knowledge.

However, maintaining such communities and ensuring a meaningful impact during or after the funding period can be challenging. This chapter provides best practices for creating, managing, and sustaining clusters, engaging projects, supporting joint activities, and supporting sustainability. The chapter draws on insights from the H2020 BES Cluster, which consists of security-related H2020 and Horizon Europe projects collaborating to support communication and dissemination activities, exchange good practices and methodologies, and explore possibilities to combine pilot activities. The chapter offers a comprehensive review of the outcomes and impact of the H2020 BES Cluster projects, highlighting their significance and potential for further exploitation. It also discusses strategies for early exploitation and effective dissemination of ongoing projects.

Although the H2020 BES Cluster focuses on border security, its methodology and practices can be customised and applied to different domains. This chapter aims to promote collaborative methodologies and draw attention to the tangible results and benefits of EU-funded projects, introducing and strengthening innovations and improvements to the security and border control system within the EU.

Clustering activities can bring various benefits to the EU and its member states. First, they can enhance competitiveness by creating economies of scale and scope, increasing productivity, and promoting innovation through knowledge transfer and collaboration among cluster members. In addition, clustering can foster regional development by creating jobs and driving economic growth. Clusters can also contribute to the development of regional innovation systems, which are essential for supporting innovation and entrepreneurship [1].

By bringing together companies and research institutions from different sectors, clusters can facilitate the exchange of knowledge and expertise that can lead to the development of more sustainable products and services. By incorporating clustering activities into EU projects, the EU can support the growth and development of different industries and sectors, while also promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

Methodology

Building a cluster consists of the same characteristics as building a community. In this case, the aforementioned community consists of EU-funded projects, in the sector of Border External Security (BES). Community building is the process of creating and fostering a sense of belonging among individuals or institutions with shared interests or goals. The BES Cluster reviewed a number of community-building methodologies and best practices, drawing inspiration from the European Commission’s “Communities of Practice Playbook” [2] and Wenger-Trayner’s “Introduction to Communities of Practice” [3] to finally structure its own customised approach.

The BES Cluster set seven steps to follow toward building and maintaining its community of projects:

  1. 1.

    Identify the target audience: The first step was to identify the target audience and understand their needs, interests, and goals. This involves conducting research on the relevant stakeholders that participate in the consortia of the projects that belong in the security sector. The target audience includes research performing organisations (RPOs) specialising in security, law enforcement agencies (LEAs), and public authorities.

  2. 2.

    Develop a mission and values statement: The next step was to develop the mission and values of the cluster and define its purpose and goals. This served as a guiding principle for community members. Mission and values should be clear, concise, and inclusive, reflecting the diverse perspectives and needs of the community.

  3. 3.

    Create a communication plan: A vital step was to develop a communication plan. This plan outlined the methods and channels of communication, including social media, a mailing list, and events, as well as the frequency and tone of communication. This plan also provisioned the recruitment of new members to the cluster in order to ensure its continuing growth.

  4. 4.

    Establish a leadership team: The BES Cluster was an initiative of the EU-funded project METICOS. The dissemination and communication managers of the project took over the role of the leadership team. The team included individuals with diverse skills and backgrounds who can work together to achieve the community’s goals, always taking into consideration the input and feedback of the cluster members.

  5. 5.

    Encourage participation: The cluster made sure to be visible and vibrant in order to encourage the existing members to participate in cluster activities, such as online workshops, physical events, or panels.

  6. 6.

    Foster a culture of inclusivity: The BES Cluster made sure to create a culture of inclusivity for building a welcoming and supportive community. This involves actively promoting diversity and equity. The projects support each other’s work while ensuring that all cluster members feel valued and respected.

  7. 7.

    Evaluate and adapt: Evaluating the effectiveness of the community-building process is essential for identifying areas of improvement and adapting the methodology as needed. This involves collecting feedback from members, monitoring engagement levels, and monitoring community’s growth and impact.

Since this is an ongoing process, the steps are being re-evaluated and readjusted according to the needs of the cluster.

Case Study: Meeting the BES Cluster

The BES Cluster was created in 2020, and it was an initiative started by the METICOS project, as it was foreseen in its Grant Agreement. The project seeks collaboration and synergies with other projects and organisations in order to further enhance existing endeavours and jointly shape the future vision of the security sector. In this vein, the METICOS dissemination/communication team promoted interactions with similar projects (FP7, H2020 and Horizon Europe) and with other stakeholders like government organisations or departments (e.g. of Interior or Public Safety), policymakers, and RPOs, to exchange non-confidential information with them in order to combine their research and outputs.

The H2020 BES Cluster consists of projects collaborating to support each other, identify solutions to upcoming challenges, secure effective dissemination and valuable exploitation potentials, and generate knowledge that, along with the developed solutions, will change the current state in the areas and fields that the projects are working upon. But what do the BES Cluster members win? First, they have the opportunity to exchange information relevant to communication and dissemination and engage in other projects’ activities. As a result, the cluster boosts the exchange of ideas on good practices and methodologies and the exploration of possibilities and opportunities to combine pilot activities, as well as the potential to produce common policy suggestions. Finally, the projects cooperate for a wider impact of the sustainability/exploitation plans of the projects to find and propose effective measures for evidence-informed policy suggestions.

The BES Cluster Achievements

In the last 3 years of the existence of the BES Cluster, several joint dissemination and piloting activities have taken place. The projects are constantly looking for new opportunities to cooperate and evolve together. These efforts have resulted in a range of successful initiatives that demonstrate the cluster’s dedication to collective progress. In this vein, this chapter provides some examples of such activities.

One notable accomplishment involves the demonstration activities at Piraeus Cruise Port on 22 and 23 July 2021. This activity was organised by the TRESSPASS Project, while METICOS representatives participated as observers, gaining valuable insights into real seaport border crossing points and the interactions and perceptions of travellers in risk-based screening situations. The goal was to enhance the utilisation of existing infrastructure and facilities by port operators and border authorities, increase their capacities and throughput, and improve border and customs control processes while minimising resource requirements and without causing delays for cruise ship passengers. As the insights generated by TRESSPASS were directly shared with METICOS and the rest of the cluster members, this success story highlights the power of knowledge exchange within the H2020 BES Cluster. By observing such an operation, the METICOS representatives benefited from the lessons learned and the best practices. This input was taken into consideration when METICOS was designing its pilot methodology.

Additionally, the first PROMENADE Workshop organised in December 2021 has been supported by the BES Cluster and broadly disseminated through its network and communication channels. The workshop was held remotely due to COVID-19 and represented an excellent opportunity to present the project to the public and engage potential actors interested in the project. Its aim was to gather experts on border surveillance, AI & big data technologies, policymakers, and practitioners, to get their valuable insights on the findings regarding the requirements of the PROMENADE system. The user community is an essential driver to ensure the effectiveness of the collected requirements enabling the project to shape an innovative toolkit for improving vessel tracking, behaviour analysis, and automatic anomaly detection, meeting expectations from a broader list of stakeholders and potential future adopters of the PROMENADE system. To this end, the workshop objectives were to (i) present the initial analysis of the requirements collected through the Requirement Gathering Process, (ii) discuss, validate, and fine-tune the analysis of the requirements with the user community, and (iii) foster user community interactions using live and interactive polls. The event was attended by 88 participants covering all target audiences from 12 European countries, including FRONTEX, that is, end users (23%), EU organisations (13%), large industries (10%), SMEs (19%), RTOs (11%), academia (4%), and others (20%). After the workshop, a database accessible to project partners was created to keep the traceability of engaged stakeholders and establish communication channels for future project activities and trials.

Furthermore, the H2020 BES Cluster actively participated in two NESTOR workshops. The first one, which was related to creating the Roadmap for Border Management Standardisation, took place at the CCMC in Brussels in cooperation with the CEN-CENELEC Sector Forum on Security Brussels, on 17 February 2023. The full-day workshop had a total of 85 participants, of which 25 were on-site and 60 joined online. The event was attended by policymakers (10%), BM practitioners (28%), research organisations (21%), industry (22%), NGOs (3%), and others.

The second NESTOR workshop, namely Demo Day & Final Workshop, was held on 24 April 2023 in Athens. It was a full-day hybrid event demonstrating the operational capabilities of the NESTOR platform as they were developed and tested throughout the land and maritime trials in Lithuania, Cyprus, and Greece. More than 190 attendees, 140 on-site in Athens and 50 online, participated having the opportunity to see the NESTOR project achievements, the trials’ demonstration through six dedicated videos and the live presentation of all NESTOR project assets, including the BC3i platform, surveillance cameras, mixed reality HoloLens glasses, RF sensors and unmanned vehicles (tethered drones, autonomous ground vehicle and underwater vehicle). The event was attended by universities (11%), EU agencies (7%), research organisations (20%), industries (34%), public entities/ministries (26%), policymakers (1%), and NGOs (1%).

As a result of such activities, the cluster managed to have a great impact in terms of reach and engagement. Also, it attracted the attention of the policy officers, as well as the EU agencies, such as Frontex and DG Home, as they saw the potential of further exploiting the cluster to create a hub that will be a reference point for current and future security projects. At this moment, the cluster counts 20 EU-funded project members, creating a network of more than 287 partners, including research organisations, public entities, private companies, and law enforcement agencies. These partners cover 37 countries, carrying out more than 45 piloting activities. The projects are creating different tools that are being tested in the security sector, focusing on border management. However, many of these tools are versatile and can be adapted and customised to be employed in other industries, such as IT, education, health, energy, and logistics.

The Future of the BES Cluster

Many of the projects that initially supported the BES Cluster, including its leader, the METICOS project, are approaching their completion. A plan on how to preserve the BES Cluster has been drafted.

The BES Repository

The members of the BES Cluster aspire to establish a website or a portal that all projects will be able to store their results, knowledge, and outputs, so that future security projects can use it as a library.

The BES Cluster’s library may be set up to facilitate effective information organising and retrieval. The library’s content will include project results that can be shared publicly. They will be categorised and arranged into sections to make sure viewers can explore and discover the particular resources they are looking for easily. By creating sections dedicated to research papers, technical reports, case studies, best practices, and policy documents related to border external security, the library becomes a well-structured repository.

Additionally, associating each item in the library with metadata such as title, author(s), date of publication, keywords, and abstract can significantly enhance search and discoverability. The metadata summarises basic information about data, which can make it easier to find, use, and reuse particular instances of data. Metadata use on web pages has a lot of potential, while using appropriate keywords and tags further enhances accessibility by enabling users to search for specific topics or keywords within the library [4].

Dissemination, Communication, and Exploitation Activities

Another way to continue boosting the sustainability of the cluster is to promote joint communication, dissemination, and exploitation activities [5].

As the METICOS project nears its completion, a workshop focused on knowledge and recommendations for stakeholders is planned. This workshop aims to showcase the successful testing of the METICOS solution and the METICOS Social Sensing toolkit across all pilot initiatives. The organisers extended a warm invitation to end users of BES Cluster projects to participate in this event. Furthermore, the possibility of collaborating with other BES projects is also open. This collaborative approach promotes a comprehensive and inclusive platform for sharing insights and fostering cooperation within the BES Cluster community, as well as promoting discussions and initiating new project ideas and proposals for the open BES-related calls.

Additionally, the BES Cluster is exploring collaboration opportunities with partners from BES projects at the Ninth Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics (CLiC-it 2023) that will be held in Venice from 30 November to 2 December 2023. The conference is a reference forum for researchers working in the fields of computational linguistics (CL) and natural language processing (NLP). It promotes and disseminates high-level research on automatic language processing, targeting state-of-the-art theoretical results, experimental methodologies, technologies, and application perspectives. A paper is planned to be submitted, related to how to do social media analysis based on perception extraction architecture for acceptance of border control technologies. The potential for collaboration with partners from BES Clusters’ projects is being explored.

In conclusion, by promoting joint communication, dissemination, and exploitation activities, and through workshops and collaborations, the BES Cluster aims to enhance sustainability and foster cooperation within its community. The upcoming events present valuable opportunities to showcase successful initiatives and explore further collaborations.

Conclusions

This chapter has provided insights into the importance of clustering or creating sister project communities as a dissemination and communication strategy in EU-funded projects. It has focused on the H2020 BES Cluster, which consists of security-related projects collaborating to support communication, exchange good practices, and explore joint exploitation activities. The chapter has reviewed the outcomes and impact of the BES Cluster, showcasing successful initiatives such as demonstration activities and workshops. Through these activities, the cluster has facilitated knowledge exchange and collaboration among its members, leading to tangible results and benefits in the security and border control system.

While this chapter has provided an overview of the BES Cluster and highlighted its achievements, there are additional topics and information that could not be included due to the word limit. Some of these topics could include the followed methodology in creating such clusters, a deeper analysis of specific joint exploitation activities, the impact of the cluster on policy development, case studies of successful collaboration between cluster members, and the long-term sustainability of the cluster beyond the completion of individual projects.

In conclusion, the H2020 BES Cluster serves as a successful example of how clustering and sister project communities can effectively promote collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the dissemination of results in EU-funded projects. By following the “Best practices” identified in this chapter, future projects can enhance their clustering efforts and maximise the impact and sustainability of their outcomes. The BES Cluster has demonstrated the potential for creating a collaborative environment, driving innovation, and fostering improvements in the security and border control system within the EU.