In an era where technology is rapidly transforming the nature of crime, the Europol Innovation Lab stands at the forefront of innovation, empowering the law enforcement community to stay ahead of emerging threats. The Lab’s 5th anniversary in 2025 marks five years of innovation, collaboration, and progress in addressing the complex challenges posed by evolving criminal methodologies.
Technological advancements have had a profound impact on crime. Criminals are quick to integrate new technologies into their operations, creating novel business models and refining their tactics. At the same time, these advancements offer unprecedented opportunities for law enforcement to enhance their capabilities. From developing cutting-edge tools to fostering collaboration, the Innovation Lab ensures that investigators and analysts have the resources they need to fight crime effectively while upholding fundamental rights.
Established in late 2019 by mandate of the Justice and Home Affairs ministers from all EU Member States, the Innovation Lab was created to drive Europol’s commitment to law enforcement innovation. Its mission is to identify, promote, and develop practical, forward-thinking solutions that enhance operational work across Member States.
The Lab’s activities align with Europol’s strategy ‘Delivering Security in Partnership', which emphasizes the importance of being at the forefront of law enforcement innovation and research. Its strategic priorities include advancing the Lab’s services, fostering partnerships with internal and external stakeholders, and preparing Europol and its Member States for the opportunities and challenges of emerging technologies. Through co-creation with Member State law enforcement agencies, EU institutions, and other partners, the Lab serves as a hub for innovation, facilitating progress across the European law enforcement community.
The Innovation Lab’s work
The work of the Europol Innovation Lab is organised around three pillars:
The Policy and Networks function drives collaboration and innovation through initiatives such as the Low-Value Innovation Grant Scheme, supporting the evaluation of Horizon Europe research projects with industry, academia, civil society, and law enforcement. It organizes the Europol Industry and Research Days and carries out collaboration projects with universities and institutes to co-develop solutions for fighting crime and terrorism. Within this function, the Lab also coordinates the Europol Excellence Awards in Innovation and chairs collaborative networks such as the European Clearing Board for Innovation, and the EU Innovation Hub for Internal Security.
The Innovation Projects function focuses on transforming research and prototypes into concrete security solutions for the EU law enforcement community. It manages the Europol Research & Innovation (R&I) Sandbox, the Europol Code Repository (ECR) and the Europol Tool Repository (ETR), a secure, LEA exclusive platform for sharing non-commercial, cost-free software developed by Europol, European law enforcement agencies and academia. With 40 tools available, over 8,000 downloads, and support for hundreds national operations, the ETR enhances efficiency, and strengthens operational impact across Europe, contributing to arrests and victim rescues, among others. The ECR, Sandbox and ETR are creating a complete co-development framework and set of services, enabling European Law Enforcement to leverage state-of-the-art techniques and develop innovative tools, within a secure and compliant environment.
R&I Projects can be initiated by Europol or Member States through the European Clearing Board for Innovation, addressing operational needs and enhancing the protection of EU citizens.
The Observatory function monitors key emerging technologies and evaluates their implications for law enforcement, focusing on risks, threats, and opportunities. Using a holistic foresight methodology, the Observatory collaborates with Member State experts on AI, emerging digital technologies, advanced technologies (e.g. quantum, AI, biometrics) and more, resulting in a number of reports. The Observatory also pioneers security design methodologies aimed at improving the positioning of law enforcement in the future operating environment.
