(29.September 2009) 2030 vision: the European Security Research and Innovation Forum:

The creation of the ‘European Security Research and Innovation Forum’ (ESRIF) was announced at the ‘2nd European Conference on Security Research’ in Berlin on 26 March 2007. ESRIF was not unveiled to the public until six months later (somewhat cynically on 9/11) in a Commission press release entitled ‘public-private dialogue on security research’. In all but name, however, ESRIF continues the GoP-ESRAB corporate governance of the ESRP, but with a wider remit.

According to the ESRIF website, “ESRIF will go beyond FP7 security research; it will go towards meeting long term security research and technological development needs throughout the EU to be covered by national, EU and private
investments”.

ESRIF is comprised of a 65-member plenary and some 660 security research consultants divided into 11 working groups. An ‘integration team’ is responsible for co-ordinating the work of the plenary and the working groups. ESRIF’s mandate includes:
• the identification of long term threats and challenges mainly building on foresight and scenario techniques;
• linking predictions and expectations about future developments
• related research requirements
• making the best possible use of the various funding instruments
• development of the ‘supporting framework’ for security research (‘society, market and governance related’)

ESRIF is taking a “mid and long term perspective (up to 20 years)… not only addressing the European but also the national
and sometimes regional level”