There is widespread agreement across police authorities, policy makers and the academic community that the video gaming ecosystem plays a substantial role in the process of radicalization. However as yet there is no compelling evidence base to understand how the process takes place, or the best measures to prevent the radicalization process. Games as a Multi-layered Security Threat (GEMS) is an interdisciplinary, mixed-method and cross-sectoral project bringing together academic researchers, AI specialists, policy experts and a range of police authorities from across Europe in order to address this challenge. Co-creation of knowledge with a comprehensive end-user engagement is the fundamental principle of GEMS. The main aims of GEMS are: 1) to contribute to a scientific advancement of the field of radicalisation and violent extremism by developing a new academic field of Sociology of Gaming and Radicalisation; 2) to provide EPAs with a novel Training Curriculum and an innovative tool, the Watchtower (a future-proof AI platform trained to recognise and prevent the spread of extremist content and recruitment in the online gaming space); 3) to create a new cross-sectoral collaborative network dedicated to countering extremist presence in the gaming ecosystem – European Networks Against Gaming-Related Extremism (ENgaGE); and 4) to develop an effective Citizens Awareness Campaign and evidence-based Policy Solutions which will greatly improve high level decision making, empower citizens and enhance youth protection. These aims will significantly contribute to the fight against the rapid spread of extremism in the online gaming spaces and lead to a secure cyberspace.

ARIEN proposes the execution of a comprehensive workplan that thoroughly addresses the call topic aligned to the 2021-2025 EU Drugs Action Plan (DAP) achieved through a holistic innovation action that builds a real-time intelligence picture illegal drug production and trafficking incidence across the EU bolstered by AI-driven tools to understand, detect, analyse and track the entire drugs trafficking chain, its financial flows and the role of black-markets in the global darknet and their relationships with of social media. ARIEN builds on a strong platform of multi-disciplinary research, following a co-creation approach, across the criminological, societal, and legislative landscapes that will make recommendations for harmonization and drive an agenda for the development of modular solutions embedding modern Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques and best practices for international cooperation in data-rich environments in a legally and ethically compliant manner. Aiming at improving the investigative capability of LEAs on illegal drugs production and trafficking, ARIEN will leverage on innovative AI techniques to monitor online illicit drugs markets and collecting precious information on physical drug-dealing hotspots through social media. Additional layers of analysis, supported by explainable AI (XAI) methods, will provide actionable knowledge on modus operandi and emerging threats and trends both on drugs and drug-related organized crime networks through integrations with criminal records data and detection of online activities. Moreover, ARIEN will promote effective strategies on international cooperation among EU and non-EU LEAs, Customs and Border Guards Authorities and policy makers to enhance investigative activities against criminal groups, capitalising on effective AI techniques.