The aim of the SAT2Rescue project is to strengthen the use of satellite communication by government institutions and non-governmental organizations, in particular in the areas of response to natural and man-made disasters, optimization of emergency services activities, and telemedicine in humanitarian aid. Infrastructure and services under the GOVSATCOM initiative will be used. As part of the project, a telecommunications satellite terminal will be built, which: • It is portable and mobile: compact dimensions, flat electronic antenna and rugged, durable form allow it to fit in a vehicle, boat or carry in a backpack. • It allows you to establish reliable communication (voice and data transmission), even in the absence of a cellular network signal or outside the range of a terrestrial radio communication system. • It is fully automatic: when turned on, it locates itself using GNSS (including Galileo), locks on to a satellite (in both geostationary and low Earth orbit) and controls the antenna to track it. It can also dynamically switch between satellites without interrupting the connection • Enables you to establish and maintain a connection even while on the move (e.g. while driving) • It is resistant to GNSS signal jamming and spoofing • Provides the ability to divide a single satellite communication channel into independent virtual networks (Software Defined Networking) Usage scenarios will be defined, including: mountain and sea rescue and rescue operations in urbanized areas after disasters. Application software will be developed for rescue operations management centers, providing a situational picture of the operation, integrating geoinformation and weather data, image data from the Copernicus system, and geotag data collected via the Galileo system. The system will be demonstrated according to usage scenarios.

SHIELD4CROWD focuses on enhancing the protection of public spaces in EU cities against security threats related to crowd management. Public spaces are indeed largely exposed to several threats like UAV and UGV attacks, CBRN attacks, cold weapons/ firearms attacks or urban riots, and gatherings are by themselves a potential target for terrorist or criminal attacks. This focus is shared, from the start, by several actors and specifically by security practitioners. 3 ministries of Interior from 3 EU countries, 1 Public Transport Operator and 2 security practitioners from Poland and Slovakia are thus involved as full partners. Many other end-users will also be involved through the User Observatory Group (UOG) and some of them have already expressed official interest for the project. SHIELD4CROWD implements a progressive and iterative process to jointly define one common challenge that can be tackled with identified candidate technology serving the basis for future PCP, for which the buyers group will be created during the project, through the continuous involvement of the UOG. First, 10 jointly defined Common Security Use Cases will fully describe the gaps between available solutions, existing processes and identified needs. A technological analysis of those needs will then be conducted by technological experts, including exploration of legal, societal, ethical, and environmental considerations, to allow the end users to converge to 3 uses cases, from which a SOTA analysis and 4 Open Market Consultations will be conducted. All the results will finally serve to the definition of the common challenge and the elaboration of the first set of Tender Documentation. SHIELD4CROWD includes a Security Advisory Board to manage the sensitive knowledge generated by its activities, and several advisors to guide the elaboration of a Common Challenge fully compliant with Europe’s privacy and data protection regulations.

The SHIELD PCP initiative aims to drive innovation by empowering buyers to actively influence the development of cost-effective solutions tailored to their unique requirements. The overarching aim is to equip security stakeholders with cutting-edge technology procured through innovative processes, offering solutions that enable seamless coordination and cooperation among all stakeholders, especially law enforcement agencies (LEAs). Building on the achievements of its predecessor, SHIEL4CROWD, the SHIELD PCP project adopts a top-down approach. This method consolidates widely agreed-upon scenarios to address critical security challenges, providing a detailed identification of innovation needs at both the process and technology levels. This top-down approach enabled the alignment of stakeholders, from security forces to public authorities, ensuring innovative solutions meet shared needs for public space protection. SHIELD4CROWD also developed a roadmap of innovations addressing operational and technical challenges while considering regulatory and economic factors. SHIELD PCP continues this work to enhance collaboration and improve public space security. The project follows a phased Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) process, which includes: Preparatory Phase: Finalizing the tendering documentation developed during SHIEL4CROWD; Phase 1: Solution Design ;Phase 2: Prototype Development; and Phase 3: Operational Validation, conducted across three pilot sites in France, Spain, and Slovakia. A consortium of 10 partners from 6 EU countries, including 3 Ministries of Interior and 1 public transport operators as Public Buyers and 1 end-user, is collaborating on this project. Many other end-users will also be involved through the User Observatory Group (UOG).

INTERCEPT aims to strengthen the capabilities of law enforcement authorities in the EU and equip them with effective methods to remotely and safely stop vehicles posing imminent and high-security threats to citizens and society. This involves identifying technology gaps to address in order to minimize existing vulnerabilities and enhance security efficiency. This objective is endorsed from the outset by various stakeholders, particularly security practitioners. INTERCEPT involves eight end-users from eight EU countries (Belgium, Finland, France, Poland, Netherlands, Slovak Republic, Spain, and the United Kingdom), all of whom are also public buyers. Additionally, numerous other end-users will participate through the User Observatory Group (UOG). The project follows a progressive and iterative approach to collectively identify a common challenge that can be addressed with identified candidate technologies, laying the groundwork for future PCP, for which the buyer's group will be created during the project, through the continuous involvement of the UOG. Initially, at least six jointly defined common security use cases will comprehensively outline the gaps between available solutions, existing procedures, and identified requirements. Subsequently, technological experts will analyse these needs, considering legal, societal, ethical, and environmental factors, as well as state-of-the-art (SOTA) analysis and consultations with the open market. The outcomes will ultimately inform the definition of the common challenge and the development of the initial set of tender documents.

The World Economic Forum suggests that transnational travel will increase by 50% over the next ten years, bringing the number of arrivals to 1.8bn by 2030 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the ever-increasing travel both on land and sea, delays and queues are often observed at cases where people are crossing border. These delays create huge frustration for the citizens and at the same time put extra burden to the border authorities’ staff. In Europe, airports have managed to improve to a certain extend the border crossing through the facial recognition booths for European citizens that own an RFID enabled passport, however there are still huge queues observed. For non-European citizens, the situation is even worse. The border control for land and sea are placing all the effort to the border authorities staff requiring from them to check the passports of the travellers as well as to control the luggage and baggage. Reasonably, even without huge number of travellers, large delays and queues are observed. ODYSSEUS will enable citizens to seamlessly cross the border without stopping, while reducing the workload and improving productivity for Border Guard Authorities by providing highly detailed risk analysis. ODYSSEUS will leverage the power of digital technology offering to citizens the appropriate tools to cross land and sea borders in a secure and seamless manner without stopping while equipping the border authorities with novel tools for secure identity verification and unobtrusive vehicle/luggage/cargo checks, eliminating long delays at border areas. The proposed technologies will allow citizens to cross borders without any intervention by just leveraging their smartphones combined with strong and continuous identity verification. Remote vehicle/luggage scanning through X-Rays and UAVs, will allow authorities to remotely perform the appropriate controls.