Israel’s National Cyber Directorate (INCD) and the United States Department of Homeland Security have joined forces with the Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation on a new cybersecurity initiative – BIRD Cyber.
The project calls on US and Israeli companies, universities and research institutions to develop technologies critical to preserving cybersecurity and threats to critical infrastructure.
BIRD Cyber will provide grants of up to $1.5 million per project and up to 50% of the research and development budgets required.
Submissions are requested in the following areas: secured architecture for protecting core operational processes; real-time risk assessment solutions for small-to-medium sized airports or seaports; piloting resilience centers for small and medium businesses and enterprises; and advanced data fusion and analytics.
What is BIRD?
Established in 1977 by the governments of the United States and Israel, BIRD has been at the forefront of industrial research and development between American and Israeli companies. Their latest foray into cybersecurity highlights the national security risks posed by cyber-warfare.
The deadline for submission of Executive Summaries is November 15, 2022. Projects will be approved in March 2023.
"We are pleased that the US Department of Homeland Security and the Israel National Cyber Directorate have selected the BIRD Foundation to lead the joint US-Israel cyber technologies program – and are proud that we can contribute to enhancing cyber resilience in both countries,” the foundation's executive director Dr. Eitan Yudilevich said.