PRoTECT Project - Public Resilience using TEchnology to Counter Terrorism

PRoTECT Project - Public Resilience using TEchnology to Counter Terrorism

PRoTECT is a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 ISFP with a duration of two years (November 2018 – October 2020). The PRoTECT project aims to strengthen local authorities’ capabilities in public spaces protection by putting in place an overarching concept where tools, technology, training and field demonstrations will lead to situational awareness and improve direct responses to secure public places before, during and after a terrorist threat. This cross sectoral project is an initiative of the Core group of the European Network of Law Enforcement Technology Services (ENLETS)

PRoTECT’s activities entail:

1. The creation of conditions for enhanced collaboration between municipal authorities and Law Enforcement agencies.
2. Assessment and testing of the EU Vulnerability Assessment Tool (VAT) provided by the European Commission's DG Home through use-cases in five European Cities. The cities that are directly involved and where the activities will take place are: Eindhoven (the Netherlands), Brasov (Romania), Vilnius (Lithuania), Larisa (Greece) and Malaga (Spain).
3. Assessment and field testing of relevant innovative solutions.
4. Training and raising the awareness of public authorities on technology concepts in the protection of the public and soft urban targets.
5. The development of training material as part of table-top exercises.
6. Organization of peer-to-peer exchange of technological solutions and best practices with other European Municipalities (EFUS, ENLETS members).

Local workshops were held in the five European cities with the participation of local municipalities, first responders, law enforcement personnel and researchers. These workshops, through the use of the EU Vulnerability Assessment Tool (VAT), aimed to pinpoint the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities that the tool offers: on the one hand, to local authorities and to relevant local stakeholders in terms of policy impact, on the other hand, at the EU level -  for the advancement of a European policy framework regarding the protection of public spaces. The workshop participants used and tested the EU VAT to identify vulnerabilities of specific sites in the participating cities against a wide range of possible threats and analyzed possible countermeasures. . In this context, each Workshop and Vulnerability Assessment Tool review provided:

• Feedback and recommendations to DG HOME
• Feedback and recommendation for the city hosted the workshop
• Suggestions and recommendations for technology assessment

On the basis of the aforementioned vulnerability assessments and their outcomes, relevant mitigating technological solutions will be selected and will be field-tested from a proof-of-concept perspective while also encompassing the exchange of best practices and lessons learned. In addition, a series of European events has been initiated providing stakeholders with tangible input to start a sustainable and effective collaboration on the protection of public spaces with the intent to enrich the vulnerability assessment process and results held in the 5 Municipalities. In this regard, the project will ultimately contribute towards the enhancement of security awareness of the participants and the mitigation of future threats for EU.

The PRoTECT consortium consists of the following Research Institutes, Law Enforcement Agencies and EU Municipalities : 1) DITSS- Dutch Institute for Technology, Safety & Security (Coordinator), 2) EFUS- European Forum for Urban Security, 3) KEMEA- Center for Security Studies, 4) TNO- Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek, 5) IGPR- Inspectoratul General al Politiei Romane, 6) Ministerio del Interior Spanish National Police, 7) L3CE- Lithuanian Cybercrime Centre of Excellence for Training, Research and Education, 8) JADS- Universiteit van Tilburg/ Jheronimus Academy of Data Science, 9) Eindhoven, 10) Ayuntamiento de Malaga Policia Local, 11) City of Larissa, 12) City of Vilnius, 13) City of Brasov.

For more information: https://protect-cities.eu/