On 19 November 2025, the Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (CERIS) once again co-organised the annual event of the EU Innovation Hub for Internal Security to bring together the CERIS and Hub communities in Brussels.
The event gathered representatives from EU institutions and agencies, research and technology organisations, internal security practitioners from EU Member States, and academic experts in the field of security. The central theme of this year’s event, “Shaping responsible solutions for internal security,” emphasised the need to develop effective security solutions that align with citizens’ expectations for privacy, transparency, and accountability.
The event was opened by Ole Anderson, a representative of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and by Martin Übelhör from DG HOME. In parallel breakout sessions, participants could then take part in a foresight exercise, discuss technological sovereignty in biometrics, explore the future of law enforcement training, discuss the challenges of encryption for police or the possibility to use UAS and C-UAS (Unmanned aircraft systems and counter-unmanned aircraft systems) for border management.
The next panel in the plenary explored the topic of critical communication services for first responders, one of the key actions of the new European Internal Security Strategy #ProtectEU. Its purpose is to ensure Mission Critical Mobile Communication, so that law enforcement and emergency responders can communicate and cooperate across agencies, unhindered by internal borders, disaster situations or external dependencies. Following this, a panel debate explored the topic of AI and fundamental rights, in particular the right to challenge decisions taken by an AI system.
In a further session, Frontex moderated the C-UAS Prize Contest, awarding the top five finalists of a competition that followed several weeks of live operational trials to assess the performance, effectiveness, and reliability of their solutions against simulated UAS threats, including off-the-shelf and custom-made UAVs.