On 9 January 2026 in Vilnius, the event “Last Mile to Innovation: From Challenges to Wins” brought together law enforcement, security practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and technology developers to address one of the most persistent challenges in EU security innovation: turning research results into operationally deployed solutions.
A key focus of the event was the presentation of European Anti-Cybercrime Technology Development Association (EACTDA) and its Tools4LEAs project.
During the event, Mr. Juan Arraiza, Executive Director of EACTDA, outlined the association’s role as an end-user-driven organization, dedicated to promoting the adoption of fully tested, operational-ready software tools for criminal investigations. The Lithuanian National Node, as part of the EACTDA ecosystem, highlighted recent initiatives and emphasized the importance of local coordination in bridging the gap between challenges faced by national LEAs, technological innovation and real-world implementation.
Open discussions facilitated by L3CE, emphasised that innovation uptake is not a single decision but a structured process involving legal readiness, infrastructure availability, skills development, funding alignment, and organisational change. Through Tools4LEAs v3, EACTDA continues to deliver it further, by continuously improving maturation of the tools, providing evaluation and demonstration platforms, and strengthening collaboration between end-users, research organisations, and industry.
The event confirmed once again the importance of National Nodes as long-term enablers of innovation operationalisation “on the ground”.
