The European Commission is to use technology by Baltimore, the e-commerce and enterprise security specialist, to allow member states to submit specified documents securely.

Baltimore, the operating name under which encryption and e-commerce security company, Zergo, now operates, was awarded the contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers. The news further fuelled Zergo's continued upward spiral on the London stock exchange as its share price rose 32.5p sterling to 685p over the day.

The project, which is expected to be operational by March, will make it possible for companies from the 15 EU member-states to submit research proposals in complete security over the Internet to the Commission's science and technology directorate, according to Baltimore. Initially the network is expected to handle up to 50,000 users.