Launch of the CYBER+ALT ‘Agħżel Li Tipproteġi’ scheme

On Monday 5^th June 2023, MITA through the National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre for Malta (NCC-MT) launched the CYBER+ALT ‘Agħżel Li Tipproteġi’ scheme aimed specifically for SME’s.

 This scheme seeks to address the need to support SMEs in financing projects related to cybersecurity. The scheme will remain open until 29^th December 2023, or an earlier date depending on absorption of the total budget of €2,000,000. The scheme shall be managed on a demand driven basis. The NCC-MT shall issue four public open calls (open rolling-calls) for interested eligible undertakings to submit their applications, cut-off dates being 20^th July 2023, 14^th September 2023, 9^th November 2023, and 29^th December 2023. Grants shall be awarded on a first come first served basis, subject to budget availability.

The aid intensity applied is 80% whereby the maximum grant that an SME can benefit from is €60,000. The investment project proposal must include a comprehensive budget breakdown that in total amounts to at least €20,000 to be eligible for funding. Eligible projects will receive a pre-financing aid of 20% and the remaining 80% will be reimbursed upon full completion of project. Implementation of projects should be completed by not later than 30^th September 2024.

This means that the investment should result in the SME advancing the status of its existing cybersecurity capacity through the implementation of new solutions that must be focused on at least one of the five investment areas: vulnerability management, identity and access management, end-to-end data protection, threat detection and response, and enhanced cloud-based platform security. For each, eligible costs include cybersecurity solutions; hardware; subscriptions, license fees and managed services; staff training; and implementation.

Information on the scheme is available in the dedicated page on the NCC-MT website – www.ncc-mita.gov.mt/. Applications can only be submitted online through the dedicated NCC Funding Application Portal accessible from www.nccfunding.gov.mt. An information session specifically on this scheme will be held on Friday, 7^th July 2023, which will allow interested applicants to follow a thorough explanation of the scheme, as well as ask questions. The NCC-MT is collaborating with Servizzi Ewropej f’Malta (SEM) in this respect and any queries are to be addressed to [email protected].