FOCAL POINT

Their core work

Focal Point is a Belgian cybersecurity consultancy specializing in security compliance, risk assessment, and data protection for critical supply chains and sensitive sectors. They bring deep expertise in international security standards (ISO 27001, ISO 28001, GDPR) and help organizations navigate EU regulatory frameworks like the NIS Directive and EU Cybersecurity Act. Their work spans conformity assessment, certification schemes, and practical security-as-a-service solutions, with particular application to healthcare and supply chain domains.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Focal Point entered H2020 in 2020 with a focus on supply chain certification and security standards (ISO 28001, ISPS, EU Cybersecurity Act) — a technically oriented compliance mandate. By their later projects, the emphasis shifted toward applied protection — healthcare data security, GDPR compliance, and delivering security-as-a-service to underserved SMEs. The trajectory shows a move from standards and certification frameworks toward practical, accessible security solutions for specific sectors and smaller organizations.

Focal Point is moving toward making cybersecurity compliance accessible and affordable for smaller enterprises and sector-specific applications like healthcare, suggesting future work will focus on democratizing security services.

How they like to work

Focal Point operates exclusively as a participant, never as coordinator, across all three projects — consistent with a specialist contributor role that delivers focused expertise within larger consortia. With 34 unique partners across 15 countries from just 3 projects, they work in large, diverse consortia (averaging ~11 partners per project). This pattern indicates they are comfortable integrating into complex multi-national teams and delivering their compliance and risk assessment expertise alongside a wide range of partners.

Despite only three projects, Focal Point has built a broad network of 34 unique partners across 15 countries, reflecting consistent participation in large pan-European security consortia. Their geographic reach is notably wide for a small company, suggesting they are a valued specialist that diverse teams seek out.

What sets them apart

Focal Point sits at the intersection of cybersecurity standards expertise and practical compliance implementation — they understand both the regulatory frameworks (EU Cybersecurity Act, NIS, GDPR) and how to operationalize them for real organizations. As a Belgian SME, they bring the agility to work closely within consortia while offering deep knowledge of conformity assessment and certification processes. Their recent pivot toward SME-focused security services makes them particularly relevant for projects aiming to bring cybersecurity solutions to underserved markets.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CYRENE
  Largest funded project (EUR 400K) tackling the high-demand area of supply chain security certification under the EU Cybersecurity Act.
• SENTINEL
  Most recent project addressing a critical market gap — making security and data protection achievable for smaller European enterprises.
• AI4HEALTHSEC
  Applies cybersecurity and AI to the sensitive healthcare sector, combining supply chain security with patient data protection.