Sentinels aims to make all kinds of computer systems and computer networks more secure. This includes standard systems such as PCs and corporate networks, but also hand held devices and embedded systems, and wireless and on-chip networks. At present most security solutions are only partial solutions. Therefore, Sentinels aims to contribute to a comprehensive framework for secure systems engineering.

The main beneficiaries of the Sentinels program are the citizens and companies who will enjoy a better organized handling of their legitimate security and privacy expectations in communication and transactions. This will result in an improved economic performance of the Netherlands.

The program management structure

The program management structure of the Sentinels program is as follows:

• Steering Group, responsible for the interpretation of the mission and the implementation of the strategy for Sentinels.
• Program Committee, responsible for the quality of Sentinels, in particular the scientific quality.
• Daily Board, responsible for the daily management of the program.

For more details about tasks and responsibilities see the research program text, chapter 6.

Procedures

Sentinels is managed by the Technology Foundation STW. In evaluating pre-proposals and proposals, the usual Technology Foundation's procedures are followed. The following is an excerpt from the Sentinels research program text, which can be found elsewhere on this site.

Pre-proposals

A short pre-proposal is required for admission to the Sentinels program. From this pre-proposal it should be clear what the topic of the research is, who the industrial partner(s) is (are), what the relevance of the (possible) results could be and a rough estimate of the costs involved. Furthermore the pre-proposal should describe why the applicants think the topic will fit within the program.

Pre-proposals for the Sentinels research program can be submitted now. The deadline is September 16, 2008. Details can be found at the call for pre-proposals at www.sentinels.nl/call.pdf. This third (and last) call is a combined call of the Sentinels program and the ICT Innovation Platform (IIP) ‘Veilig Verbonden’ and has been made possible thanks to the support of ICTRegie.

Proposals

The full proposal should clearly describe the research planned, the industrial partners and their contribution, a budget overview, etc. It should be written according to the format described in the Technology Foundation brochure Richtlijnen Open Technologieprogramma.

The organization of the refereeing is done by the Technology Foundation according to their usual procedures (see the brochure). To ensure that Sentinels proposals are truly novel, international reviewers will be asked whenever possible. Each of the experts will be asked a fixed set of questions. The reviewers' answers will be collected and sent to the applicants for comment. Answers and comments will then be merged in a single document, the protocol.

Granting and rejection

Based on the original proposals and the protocols, each Program Committee member reviews each proposal individually (except the proposals he/she is involved with), without consulting the other committee members. Each project is given two numerical scores, one for the scientific quality and one for the utilization. The scores result in a priority order, which is discussed in the Program Committee. This results in a granting proposal for the Steering Committee, who will decide which projects to fund and which to reject. The Program Office will inform the applicants of the results. Approximately 40% of the proposals will be granted, as far as budget allows.

Project progress monitoring

Each funded project will have to submit a progress report twice a year. For each project, a user committee will be formed. This committee serves as the main instrument for utilization. The users committee of a project is the forum for communication between university and industry. This is done according to the Technology Foundation policy. The users committee will meet twice a year and discusses the progress and the possible applications.

Please go here for extended project summaries in English.

Please go here (and scroll down to Innovatiemarkt) for posters of Sentinels projects.

Please go to www.sentinels.nl/projects/documents for relevant documents for project members, user committee members and Sentinels researchers.

Time frame