CAMELOT

CAMELOT proposes to develop and demonstrate different advanced command and control service modules for multiple platform domains, based on a SOA architecture that specifies internal and external interfaces, allowing the development of a modular and scalable command and control station, customisable to the user needs. This architecture can be based on results of previous studies and work or open architectures that may prove more suitable and the interfaces can take advantage of the standardisation work that has been done already. After the definition, CAMELOT partners will prototype service modules according to their expertise, background individual technologies and practitioner needs. These will be integrated progressively in specific testing along the project. This prototype development approach will culminate in 2 final demonstrations involving end users and relevant stakeholders, to achieve a maturity of TRL6 (for most individual technologies supporting the functionalities for border surveillance) and an IRL of 7 for CAMELOT.

IN-PREP

IN-PREP establishes and demonstrates a next generation programme by enabling: 
• a reference implementation framework of coordination operations (Handbook of Operations), and 
• a novel multi-disciplinary training platform (Mixed Reality Preparedness Platform) at the service of the entirety of civil protection stakeholders (firefighting units, medical emergency services, police forces, civil protection units, control command centers, assessment experts).
The proposed framework does not only improve preparedness, response planning and scenario building, but is also applied during joint interventions, thus improving the joint capacity to respond.

DRIVER+

The scale and pace of crises pose enormous challenges for the Crisis Management (CM) sector, with new threats emerging all the time. An already complex field must also strive to integrate new technologies and methods, cope with a rapidly changing infrastructure, understand evolving risks, be effective across cultural, administrative and national boundaries and engage with populations to enhance their resilience. Innovation is therefore critical, but will only be successful if it is relevant and accessible to practitioners and operators. CM innovation must therefore be capable of meeting these multifaceted challenges and delivering solutions that are modular, flexible and adaptable. These solutions must be tested and validated in realistic environments; they must be evaluated to assess their true benefits and for their overall suitability, before being adopted by end-users. DRIVER+ (Driving Innovation in Crisis Management for European Resilience), funded under the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme will improve the way capability development and innovation management are addressed, by assessing and delivering solutions that can be used, and combined, to address different types of large-scale crises.

Unmanned vehicles (UVs) now play an increasing role in Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) missions such as border surveillance, cropping monitoring or local law enforcement. However, fast location of isolated people in the case of natural or man-made disasters still continues to be a crucial and arduous task. MOBNET will design a Search and Rescue (SAR) system for the location of isolated victims in the case of natural or man-made disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes or large snow storms. It will also help first responder services to find fugitives or smugglers hidden within buildings. To that end, the use of European Global Navigation Satellite (EGNSS) systems (both Galileo early services and EGNOS) and Digital Cellular Technologies (DCT) will play the key role in these situations in which it is difficult, dangerous or even impossible to access the affected areas. The EGNSS and DCT technologies will be tightly synchronised to provide accurate positioning. However, this demanding synchronisation exceeds the current capabilities of most GNSS and cellular equipment. In order to achieve the required performance, novel EGNSS and DCT methods will be applied. Furthermore, an effective and reliable communication link between Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and the ground station will be designed. This datalink will ensure uninterrupted command and control communication among devices and the integrity of communication signals. Thus, the UAVs will always operate as intended. Research will be driven by the end-user and industrial partners to ensure that it addresses the needs of the PPDR services. The potential for a fast and reliable SAR system will be illustrated by a prototype that will work at long distances. The developed SAR system will take advantage of the Galileo and EGNOS capabilities and will strengthen the position of European Industry in the field of security services. It will greatly facilitate their missions and the rescue of isolated victims.

eVACUATE

The dynamic capture of situational awareness concerning crowds in specific mass gathering venues and its intelligent enablement into emergency management information systems, using smart communication devices and spaces is critical for achieving rapid, timely guidance and safe evacuation of people out of dangerous areas. 
In eVACUATE, the intelligent fusion of sensors, geospatial and contextual information, with advanced multi-scale crowd behaviour detection and recognition will be developed. The structured fusion of sensing information with dynamic estimated uncertainties on behaviour predictions will advance eVACUATE crowd dynamic models; and virtual reality simulations of crowds in confined environments. A service oriented Decision-Support System shall be developed to dynamically distribute on-demand evacuation information to emergency management actors as the crisis unfolds. 
Decision-makers at the command posts, first responders, front-line stewards and volunteers receive real-time situation aware information of updated evacuation strategies using robust and resilient eVACUATE information and communication infrastructure. 

The eVACUATE system performance and scalability will be validated in four distinct scenarios involving incidents with large crowd at various venues with the requirements of evacuation time reductions and increases of safety and security. The pilots are the following:
1) Evacuation of a Soccer Stadium - Real Sociedad de Futbol S.A.D (Anoeta Stadium, San Sebastian, Spain)
2) Mustering and evacuation of passenger cruise ship- STX-FRANCE (Cruise Ship, France)
3) Airport evacuation-Athens International Airport (Airport Terminal, Athens, Greece)
4) Metro Tube evacuation – Metro Bilbao S.A (Metro Station, Bilbao City, Spain)

SPARTACUS

SPARTACUS will design, realise, test and validate in simulated and real world scenarios GALILEO-ready tracking/positioning solutions for critical asset tracking and crisis management. At a general level, Spartacus will implement solutions for location awareness in the context of crisis management based on existing (GPS, EGNOS, EDAS) and incoming (GALILEO) satellite services and technologies providing precise tracking/positioning, ensuring no lacks of communication and no gaps of information in coordination actions. In details, this will be done with reference to three application areas:

The project will employ a deliberate methodology that leads progression through Identification, Development, Implementation and Exploitation. SPARTACUS innovation areas include hardware adaptations, algorithms for precision improvement, integration of the receivers with inertial platforms to provide dead reckoning functionalities, and communication availability in emergency by restoring local existing network over satellite backhauling. In addition, modular and scalable platforms will be made appropriate for each application area. Consortium networks, marketing channels, and end users from the rail, disaster relief, and first responder sectors will prepare these new EU-specific services for market uptake.

ICARUS is a research project funded by the European Commission (EC) to develop unmanned SAR technologies for detecting, locating and rescuing humans in the aftermath of a major disaster. The overall purpose of the project is to apply its innovations for improving the management of a crisis and by doing so to reduce the risk and impact of the crisis on citizens. The use of unmanned search and rescue devices embedded in an appropriate information architecture and integrated into existing infrastructures will help crisis personnel by providing detailed and easy to understand information about the situation. The proposed system will inform crisis personnel about real dangers present on the ground, and will thus increase their performance in resolving the situation.

RECONASS is a European 7th Framework project funded under the SEC programme (grant agreement no. 312718). The RECONASS project will develop a monitoring system for constructed facilities that will provide a near real time, reliable, and continuously updated assessment of the structural condition of the monitored facilities after a disaster, with enough detail to be useful for early and full recovery planning. The above assessment will be seamlessly integrated with automated, near real-time and continuously updated assessment of physical damage, loss of functionality, direct economic loss and needs of the monitored facilities and will provide the required input for the prioritization of their repair.

EUCONCIP (European Cooperation Network on Critical Infrastructure Protection) is a networking project co-funded by the European Union under the Prevention, Preparedness and Consequence Management of Terrorism and other Security-related Risks Programme. The project aims at fostering the collaboration and interaction among stakeholders in the field of Critical Infrastructure Protection. In particular, the main objective of the project is to establish a formal network for individuals, organisations, governmental bodies, private organisations, operators, decision makers, project implementers, academia representatives and associations involved in the CIP field in order to strengthen cross-country and cross-sector cooperation. The EUCONCIP initiative allows participants to benefit from a set of joint activities and information sharing tools that are expected to be carried on behind the end of the EU-supporting period in the form of a formally established association.

DARIUS

The DARIUS project will leverage previous R&D efforts on technologies and possible added-value of these systems for situation awareness to envisage their adaptation and integration in complex multi-national/agency SAR operations. The main objective of DARIUS is to reach effective levels of interoperability so these systems can be shared between several organisations. This objective will be achieved in designing a Generic Ground Station with associated proposed standards, a full integration in the command and control cycle and a consistent communication network. In addition, DARIUS will adapt the existing unmanned systems and their payloads (air, ground and maritime) to the specificities of the Search and Rescue missions. DARIUS solutions will be evaluated in real conditions through 3 scenarios (Urban, forest fires and maritime SAR) designed by the end-users. The project will be implemented under the control of a wide panel of fully committed end-users. It will be performed following an optimised structure and with flexible and proven procedures.