Innovating in Urban Security – by Paul Ekblom, University College, London –
Why should we innovate in urban security? What, indeed, is innovation and how does Efus view it? How can we support it? These are the topics that are…
Innovation, foresight and anticipation are still largely absent from local security policies even though they concern domains that are undergoing profound sociological and technological changes. New technologies in particular have a huge impact on urban security.
Video surveillance, artificial intelligence, mobile apps, social networks, Big Data, Bitcoints, drones… new technologies have opened new fields of action for both security actors and criminals. Furthermore, as shown in many practices across Europe, they facilitate the participation of citizens in their own security. While offering real opportunities, they raise ethical questions with regard to the respect of privacy and fundamental rights.
Public security policies remain largely static because they are produced in a system that has not yet fully adapted to our hyper-connected and informed societies. They must, however, fully embrace this new field in order to both monitor it and benefit from it.
Efus is coordinating a working group on Security & Innovation, the purpose of which is to share prospective reflections and insights on innovative strategies, both in the social and the technological realms, that can be applied to urban security. Learn more
> Minutes of the workshop organised as part of the 2021 conference:
Discover the actions implemented in communities across Europe through our summary documents, which present the key elements of each of these initiatives, including their context, objectives, activities, budget, evaluation. All of our practice and summary sheets can be found on Efus Network.
Why should we innovate in urban security? What, indeed, is innovation and how does Efus view it? How can we support it? These are the topics that are…
Augsburg, Germany, June 2019 – The new working group on Innovation & Security established in the wake of the Medi@4sec projet on the use of information technologies met…
Barcelona (Spain), February 2017 — Designing public policies is not an easy task. In theory, it involves establishing a diagnosis on the basis of which objectives and actions…
“This workshop has motivated me to work further on the use of social media for public security.” – Workshop participant Barcelona, Spain, November 2017 – The recent massive increase in the…
Municipal councillor for the Tetúan and Moncloa districts of Madrid, Montserrat Galcerán Huguet explains why the city decided to commit to guaranteeing the respect of privacy and fundamental…
Athens, Greece, May 2017 – How to best use information gathered via social media to predict and plan before events? How to use social media to assist their…
Berlin, Germany, January 2017 – What are the potential and challenges of social media use by citizens when it is closely related to or overlaps in part with…
La Rochelle, France, February 2017 – Created last year by the urban community of La Rochelle and the Angoul’loisirs association for “youth and popular education”, the FestiPREV film…
Social media is omnipresent and has become a powerful mechanism driving social, economic and organisational change. New and emerging forms of social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and other…