The aim of the RESIST project is to enhance the resilience of large scale interconnected critical infrastructures, thanks to the combination of the Skydweller, a versatile ultra-persistent sustainable platform fitted with high end performing sensors and the Copernicus satellite imagery (optical and radar imagery (Synthetic-aperture radar, SAR)). This solution will support critical infrastructures operators and crisis managers across EU territories before, during, and after disasters. The project will involve key European Civil Protection Authorities, Critical Infrastructure Operators, technology providers, universities and security foundations to build the most relevant and effective solution. RESIST will provide (i) a multi-missions capacity, (ii) the ability to perform a persistent or an aleatory monitoring of critical infrastructures, (iii) relevant data to actualize emergency plans and strengthen critical infrastructures security, (iv) a reaction and coordination capacity, in case of the occurrence of a disaster, (v) support climate adaptation strategies and plans in place at different levels across Europe and neighbour countries (whenever applicable). The resilience enhancement of large scale interconnected critical infrastructures will be approached through three particular use cases dealing with transmission lines monitoring in Spain, electricity production and distribution infrastructure monitoring in Portugal and surveillance of a strategic hydrocarbons site in Cyprus (simulated use case).

The iProcureNet project aims to build an EU network of organisations centred on the procurement of security solutions through the appointed iProcureNet National Contacts (IPNCs), together with a larger community of people composed of individuals and experts interested in procurement. Via the established Network+Community, iProcureNet will facilitate collaboration and dialogue among procurers, enabling: i) coordinated sharing and analysis of procurement trends included in the investment plans, ii) development of common and standardised practices from the technical, legal and financial perspectives, and iii) establishing pathways for joint procurement (JP) of innovative and new to market solutions, research services, and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products in the field of security. iProcureNet will develop the iProcureNet Toolbox including a comprehensive methodology, guidelines and a knowledge database of current procurement practices and processes in Europe; and will create a firm foundation for the set-up of Established Buyers Groups (EBGs) – countries which, using the iProcureNet Toolbox, have found common ground and are ready to procure. Close collaboration with related PCP and PPI actions and the practitioner innovation networks will be a key component of the project. Ultimately, iProcureNet, will aim to create a stepping stone to future collaboration in the form of a future investment plan for collaborative procurement actions, and to develop detailed pro-innovation procurement strategies. The Network+Community will be supported by i) the iProcureNet Online Platform (IPOP) enabling professional social networking and online dialogue on good practices and procurers’ needs; ii) a sustainable organisational set-up composed of well organised bodies and processes, and iii) appropriate communication and dissemination activities including Annual Conferences, trainings and workshops. The consortium includes 15 partners, out of which 10 are procurement agencies.

Over the past decades, Europe has experienced several terrorist attacks, proving that this threat is still real and serious, while perpetrators are finding new methods to penetrate current security measures. Although grave attacks have so far been rather infrequent, it is still a reality that EU citizens may be suddenly caught up in a terrorist incident, while at the stadium, shopping in a mall, commuting, visiting a cultural venue, or in any other public space. Besides, more terrorist attacks are associated with lower levels of life satisfaction and happiness among the EU population. One in five people in the EU are indeed very worried about a terrorist attack in the next 12 months. Terrorist attacks also lower EU citizens’ trust in fellow citizens, national political, legal and police institutions. SAFE-CITIES aims to support excellence in the protection of public spaces, by delivering and demonstrating a Security and Vulnerability Assessment framework, empowered by a decision-support platform for its implementation, in 4 use-cases across 5 EU countries. This will allow for simulation of complex scenarios, crowd behaviour and attacks in any space within a realistic virtual 3D environment, enabling end-users to perform comprehensive and dynamic risk and vulnerability assessments of the site investigated, to identify potential vulnerabilities against a wide number of threats and support the full engagement and cooperation of public and private actors, including citizens, into the elaboration of strategies, to make public spaces secure while preserving their open nature. The Consortium brings together 17 partners from 9 countries (Italy, Cyprus, Netherlands, Greece, Poland, UK, Belgium, Finland, Slovenia). To effectively carry out the 32 months project, the project team includes local and regional authorities, Police authorities, First Responders organizations, RTOs and academia, CSO, security industry cluster association, and high-tech SMEs specialised in security.

European strategy and research roadmap documents emphasise the significant societal and economic benefits coming from robotic and autonomous systems. Multi-Robot Systems (MRS) comprise distributed and interconnected robotic teams that can carry out tasks beyond the competency of a single robot. Although MRS offer improved scalability and performance, increased robustness, and mission enablement, the lack of a systematic engineering methodology, covering the complete engineering lifecycle and handling efficiently the salient characteristics of MRS such as openness, uncertainty, variability, and interplay of safety and security, results in solutions that fail because of fragile design and unrealistic assumptions. SESAME addresses these problems through an open, modular, model-based approach for the systematic engineering of dependable MRS. SESAME is underpinned by public meta-models, components and configuration tools supporting the dependable MRS operation in uncertain settings characterised by emergent behaviours and possible cyber-attacks. To demonstrate this timely and ambitious goal, SESAME combines five end- user-led use-cases (in the domains of healthcare, agile manufacturing, agri-food, and inspection and maintenance) with R&D competences of partners that have a long track-record in conducting cutting-edge research on robotics, model- based safety, security analysis, validation, and verification, towards the actual delivery of research results characterised by widely-used, sustainable and industrial-strength open-source software. An advisory board of world-class experts guides the development of SESAME .

Pathogens are a determining factor in emergency response due to their life-threatening nature, both for the public as well as for the safety of first responders. In many cases, pathogen contaminations are difficult to detect, and require specialized technologies, tools and procedures to handle them. Pathogens can easily spread via water, and may cause contaminations of large areas far from their origin. Waterborne pathogen contamination events can occur anywhere, and may be caused by various natural events or they can be the result of human activity, either accidental or malicious. During these emergencies, first responders may need to operate within a certain pre-defined incident area, and are likely to be exposed to contaminated water originating from various sources, such as surface water, wastewater or drinking water. This can pose a significant risk of illness, disease or even death, through skin contact, ingestion or inhalation. The overall objective of the PathoCERT project is to strengthen the coordination capability of the first responders in handling waterborne pathogen contamination events. This will increase the first responders’ capabilities, allowing the rapid and accurate detection of pathogens, improving their situational awareness, and improving their ability to control and mitigate emergency situations involving waterborne pathogens. To achieve this objective, the project will research and demonstrate Pathogen Contamination Emergency Response Technologies (PathoCERT), a collection of novel, cost-effective and easy-to-use technologies, tools and guidelines, which will be field-validated by the first responders.