Málaga, Spain, February 2020 – Efus and the other partners in the European PROTECT project aimed at strengthening the protection of public spaces against terrorist threats, took part in their fifth coordination meeting in Málaga (ES), on 4-5 February.
> A tool to evaluate vulnerabilities and existing technological solutions
The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Technology Evaluation Framework (TEF) designed through the project by TNO and Kemea and aimed at local and regional authority staff and partners such as the police. Derived from a previous European project, the TEF methodology consists of eight different steps to not only assess the vulnerabilities of public spaces but also find in the market available technological solutions to reduce them.
> A call for solutions to be launched as part of PROTECT
A call for available technological solutions (termed Request for Information or RFI) will be launched as part of the project. The selected ones will be evaluated on the ground by the five partner cities (Brasov (RO), Eindhoven (NL), Lariseon (GR), Málaga (ES), and Vilnius (LT)).
The project has been running for a year and already has a series of tools that are currently being tested by the partner cities to conduct both a vulnerability self-assessment and technology assessment in their municipalities.
> The PROTECT project
Led by the Dutch Institute for Technology, Safety and Security (DITSS), PRoTECT started in November 2018 for a duration of 24 months. Besides Efus, it gathers the Lithuanian Centre for Cybersecurity; the Meleton Asfaleias Centre (GR); the Romanian police Inspectorate (RO); the Spanish Ministry of the Interior (ES); the cities of Brasov (RO), Eindhoven (NL), Lariseon (GR), Málaga (ES), and Vilnius (LT); the Dutch Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO, NL), and the Catholic University of Brabant (NL).
Efus contributes to PRoTECT by designing training materials for local authorities and law enforcement agencies. It also helps the five partner cities conduct a local vulnerability assessment so they can adopt tailored technological solutions and best practices to enhance the protection of their public spaces.
> More information on the PROTECT project here.
> If you are interested in this project or wish to submit a solution to the RFI call, contact Pilar De La Torre at Efus (delatorre@efus.eu) or Peter van de Crommert, Coordinator DITSS (vandecrommert@ditss.nl)
