Paris, France, November 2018 – A new European project in which Efus is a partner, “Public Resilience using TEchnology to Counter Terrorism” (PRoTECT), which will seek to strengthen the capabilities of local authorities to secure public places in particular before, during and after a terrorist threat, has started on 1 November.
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The overall objective of this project, which will last two years, is to provide European local authorities with guidance, training and knowledge on the usage of technology as an indispensable tool to ensure the safety and security of a municipality.
This project is in line with the European Commission’s 2017 Action Plan to “provide guidance and support to Member States at national, regional and local level in protecting public spaces,” which states that the EU “can foster the exchange of best practice across borders through targeted funding as well as networks of practitioners and guidance material,” and that it can “involve a wide range of stakeholders both from the local level and the private sector in this work.”[1]
Tools, technology, training and field demonstrations
The project will provide the partner local authorities with tools, technology, training and field demonstrations that will improve situational awareness, i.e. the capacity to assess the level of safety in a given place or situation, as well as the measures taken to strengthen the safety of public places, prevent a terrorist attack and mitigate its consequences, should it occur.
Efus will design training materials
Efus will contribute to PRoTECT by designing training materials for local authorities and law enforcement agencies that will be based on the European Commission’s Soft Target Site Assessment tool, which is a set of operational guidelines on assessments on-site concerning the vulnerability of public spaces. It will also help the project’s five partner cities conduct a local vulnerability assessment so they can adopt tailor-made technological solutions and best practices to enhance the protection of their local public spaces.
Led by the Dutch Institute for Technology, Safety and Security (DITSS), PRoTECT gathers, apart from Efus, the Lithuanian Centre for Cybersecurity (Lietuvos Kibernetiniu Nusikaltimu Kompetenciju Ir Tyrimu Centras) (LT), 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).
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[1] European Commission, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Action Plan to support the protection of public spaces, 10.18.2017 – https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-security/20171018_action_plan_to_improve_the_protection_of_public_spaces_en.pdf
