Trans Critical Infrastructures in Transport and Distribution Systems
Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen
Action: 13205
Acronym: CI-Trans
Summary:
Summary of the project:
The Action will conduct research during the 7th Framework Programme on the issue of vulnerability of transport and distribution systems against man-made risks, natural hazards and intentional acts. It develops and applies system analysis methods to assess the risk, vulnerability, safety and security elements of complex systems and critical infrastructures supporting road, railway water-borne and inter-model transport. Special emphasis is given to the transportation of dangerous goods, including their transport through pipelines. Operational solutions and systems are studied, developed and compared to identify the best practices, methods and technology for reducing vulnerability and improve resilience of such systems, within the remit of all-inclusive hazards protection strategies. This includes work in emergency planning and simulation of emergency responses, in threat, impact, vulnerability and risk assessment, including scenario analysis and mapping. As this work calls for an in-depth understanding and knowledge characterization of the technical systems and their environment, much emphasis is given on the study and development of open service-oriented architecture and software standards for information accessibility, interoperability and maintenance, to support risk management. Special attention is also given to the exploitation of current and emerging tracing and tracking technologies to improve risk characterisation and support emergency management. The Action fosters harmonization and integration of methods and standards for vulnerability and risk assessment through benchmarking, active networking and stakeholder involvement.
The Action focuses on four main themes: (a) harmonization and improvement of risk analysis, vulnerability assessment and protection methods of critical infrastructures; (b) identification, study and harmonization of best practices and supporting methods and tools for scenario analysis. emergency preparedness and response to accidents or intentional acts related to the transport of dangerous substances; (c) comparison of technological architectures and study of functional specifications for on-board electronic platforms supporting safety, security and logistic requirements; (d) comparison and development of open service-oriented software architecture for integrated territorial vulnerability assessment and risk management.
In 2009, the Action will focus on two major components: (a) the study of Critical Infrastructures (CI's) and (b) the development of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) solutions to enhance security and safety.
Critical Infrastructures
Methods and tools for the assessment of how critical are CI's for our society and on how to protect them will be developed, with a special focus on how to capture the many (inter-)dependencies which exist amongst CI's, primarly in the transport and energy sectors. This work will look into the assessment of the vulnerability of CI's, of the impact that their disruption or destruction may cause, and of possible prevention/protection measures. It includes modeling, scenario building, and criteria definition. It is closely connected with the ChemThreat and BioThreat Actions of TRiVA and with the 2009 Task Force on the European Reference Network on Critical Infrastructure Protection (ERN-CIP).
This activity feeds directly into the support that the Action is providing to DG-JLS and Member States on the formulation and implementation of the forthcoming Directive on the "Identification and designation of European Critical Infrastructures and the assessment of the need to improve their protection." More precisely, it builds and further expands the work carried out by the Action in 2008 with the preparation of technical guidelines for implementing the above-mentioned Directive.
This activity involves also support to analysts within SATCEN and Council.
Intelligent Transport System (ITS) solution to enhance security and safety
This activity will contribute to the definition of requirements and design of a common platform to be installed on-board professional vehicles for regulatory purposes, mostly related with safety and security. The work is in line with the ITS roadmap of the Commission. It extends our current tasks with the Digital Tachograph (i.e. ERCA - European Root Certification Authority -, and Interoperability Certification Laboratory) to contribute significantly to the definition of the second generation of Digital Tachograph and of its possible use, within a common platform, to reduce the risks associated with the transport of dangerous substances.
This activity foresees also the association of our Interoperability Certification Laboratory with the G07 accredited Tempest laboratory in view of a possible future accreditation.
It also implies a close relationship with all actors of PAC4 - Transport & Energy - interested in the convergence towards a single ITS on-board platform serving different regulatory purposes (e.g. digital tachograph, transport of dangerous goods and living animals, e-call, electronic toll collection, environmental sustainability and energy efficiency). Coordination and collaborations with other Actions working in these fields (e.g. TransTech, AirMod) are expected. The activity will also explore the possibility to act as - and exploit - a EU repository for data collected during ITS-related Field Operational Tests.