We are excited to share that MARCONNECT has connected with the ORION project, a Horizon Europe Innovation Action bringing together 21 partners from 14 countries with a budget of €5.24 million, running from September 2025 to August 2028.
ORION aims to transform how Europe manages its borders by developing next-generation technologies for seamless, secure, and efficient border crossings. At the core of its vision is integrating AI, biometrics, and interoperable systems across EU land, maritime, and rail borders. The project addresses a very real and growing challenge: increasing cross-border flows, seasonal congestion at ports of entry, rising risks of identity fraud and trafficking, and the need for border operations that are not only smarter and more secure but also more sustainable and resource-efficient.
To meet these challenges, ORION is developing a wide range of innovative solutions, from remote biometric enrolment and in-vehicle identity verification to AI-driven risk assessment, intelligent queue management, portable vehicle screening, and an explainable AI decision support system for border authorities. These technologies will be validated in real-life conditions with the Romanian Border Police, Bulgarian Border Police and Slovenian Police, across multiple border crossing typologies.
The connection with MARCONNECT is meaningful. ORION strengthens security and efficiency at the border crossing point itself. At the same time, MARCONNECT extends situational awareness into the maritime approaches, integrating civilian vessel data into Coast Guard command and control systems before threats ever reach the shore. Together, the two projects cover complementary segments of the same security continuum, and we see strong potential for knowledge exchange around AI-driven decision support, interoperability with EU agencies, and the ethical and regulatory frameworks that govern the use of such technologies.
We look forward to building this relationship further and exploring how our communities and results can reinforce each other.
👉 Learn more about ORION: orion-project.eu
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