This call supports the upgrade of existing submarine telecommunications/digital infrastructures to “smart capabilities” enabling applications that monitor them as well as other surrounding critical infrastructures (e.g. power cables, pipelines, etc.) and/or their vicinity. The specific objectives of this call are therefore to:

• Enhance the security, resilience and overall performance of the submarine fibre cable infrastructure within or connecting to the Union by deploying smart cable technologies and sharing the data gathered by these smart cables with Regional Cable Hubs and/or competent national authorities as appropriate;
• Further promote the use of data gathered by smart cables with authorised relevant stakeholders (e.g. the scientific and academic communities for environmental monitoring purposes).

Under this call, CEF-Digital will support the upgrade of existing equipment to make fibre cable systems “smart”, either throughout the length of the cable, such as by attaching sensors, or by other probing techniques at the edge, to detect and monitor displacement, acoustic or other signals.

Applicants are encouraged to clearly demonstrate in their proposals the geostrategic importance of the proposed action, in view of the interests of the Union, notably to enhancing the level of security of the EU backbone infrastructure.

The implementation of smart cable systems will facilitate specialised applications in safeguarding critical infrastructure, which can be compromised by natural events, accidental activities, or deliberate sabotage. These systems will also collect data on environmental conditions, such as temperature and currents, as well as information on marine fauna for research purposes. Additionally, they will enable the detection of seismic activity, volcanic eruptions, or tsunami events, thereby providing the potential for early warnings to civil protection authorities.

Proposals should address the connectivity needs of a region or the whole EU, by integrating complementary routes that improve redundancy and include state-of-the art technological solutions, with clear benefits in terms of cost-efficiency and synergy between actors (stakeholders, regions, Member States, etc.). Cooperation with other actors to achieve the aforementioned benefits is encouraged and may be based on the reuse or extension of existing studies or works, sharing or upgrading capacities to fulfil the needs of the concerned stakeholders.

Activities may include studies, provided that they are necessary for the implementation of the project. This may include preparatory work required prior to signing a contract with a supplier (e.g. required permits).

Studies activities should be described and executed in separate work packages and can then benefit from the funding rate specific for studies (see Form of grant, funding rate and maximum grant amount). Note that the higher funding rate for works in outermost regions (see Form of grant, funding rate and maximum grant amount) does not apply to studies activities if included in the same proposal.

The expected impacts of this call include:

• Increased security and resilience of the EU’s submarine cable infrastructure through the deployment of cutting-edge smart cable technologies, which will contribute to the digital sovereignty and strategic autonomy of the EU.
• Enhanced coordination and sharing of vital data among Member States, enabling the detection and monitoring of threats and facilitating appropriate responses to ensure the continuity of critical services across the Union.
• Advanced environmental monitoring (e.g. climate change) and enhanced civil protection against potential natural disasters, achieved by sharing pertinent data with the scientific community and relevant authorities.

Key performance indicators for this topic will include:

• The total length (km) and approximate targeted area (location, km) of submarine cable systems (including cables’ name, owners) upgraded with smart technologies,
• the number of smart monitoring units installed along submarine cable systems, (number of devices and/or nodes),
• the number of different technologies used, and
• detection accuracy.