iCROSS envisages to enable faster thorough border control for third country nationals crossing the borders of EU, with technologies that adopt the future development of the Schengen Border Management. The project will present an optimal mixture of an enhanced, voluntary form of a Registered Traveller Programme and an auxiliary solution for the Entry/Exit System based on involving bona fide travellers. iCROSS designs and implements a system that adopts mobility concepts and consists of a two-stage procedure, designed to reduce cost/time spent per traveller at the crossing station. It leverages software and hardware technologies ranging from portable readers/scanners, various emerging and novel subsystems for automatic controls, wireless networking for mobile controls, and secure backend storage and processing. The two-stage procedure includes: (A) the registration before the travel to gather initial personal, travel document and vehicle data, perform a short, automated, non-invasive interview with an avatar, subject to lie detection and link the traveller to any pre-existing authority data. Utilizing multifactor analytics and risk-based approach, the data registered is processed and correlated with publicly open data or external systems such as the SIS II. Processing will need the travellers consent as set in EU legislation and national law. (B) the actual control at the border that complements pre-registered information with results of security controls that are performed with a portable, wireless connected iCROSS unit that can be used inside buses/trains or any point. Multiple technologies check validity and authenticity of parameters (e.g. travel documents, visa, face recognition of traveller using passport picture, real-time automated non-invasive lie detection in interview by officer, etc.). The data collected are encrypted, securely transferred and analysed in real time, providing an automated decision support system for the border control officers.

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.

SMILE proposes a novel mobility concept that addresses the aforementioned challenges by designing, implementing and evaluating in relevant environments (TRL6) prototype management architecture, for the accurate verification, automated control, monitoring and optimization of people’ flows at Land Border Infrastructures. It leverages the capabilities of the smart mobile devices in biometric control for secure and trusted authentication, and elaborates on their exploitation as part of a multimodal biometric verification process that supplements / complements existing approaches. Furthermore, SMILE’s mobility concept builds upon Private Cloud Infrastructure technologies which communicate with remote SMILE handhelds through a secure gateway. SMILE ecosystem will target EU land borders which will be the beneficiaries of the proposed solutions. In fact, the proposed technology and business framework developed in SMILE will be validated through pan-European demonstrations in 3 BCPs. The operational properties of the technologies and overall solution will be validated and evaluated against cost, performance, effectiveness and usability indicators. Use cases will be supported by different architectural designs, which will be classified according to the operation mode. BCPs participating in the project’s pilots will deploy and evaluate the solution at business as usual and emergency situations across various status operations. SMILE aims to (1) minimise the exposure of BCPs to security risks and threats, and (2) help them successfully respond to security incidents, while relieving them from all unnecessary and costly efforts of identifying, acquiring and using the appropriate technology. To this CNBP, HBP & RBP BCP partners will deploy and validate the proposed secure & reliable ecosystem in two use cases (Romania Bulgaria), in which the adaptation of SMILE framework to focused applications will be performed.

Modern critical infrastructures are becoming increasingly “smarter” (e.g. cities). Making the infrastructures “smarter” usually means making them smarter in normal operation and use: more adaptive, more intelligent… But will these smart critical infrastructures (SCIs) behave equally “smartly” and be “smartly resilient” also when exposed to extreme threats, such as extreme weather disasters or terrorist attacks? If making existing infrastructure “smarter” is achieved by making it more complex, would it also make it more vulnerable? Would this affect resilience of an SCI as its ability to anticipate, prepare for, adapt and withstand, respond to, and recover? These are the main questions tackled by this proposal. The proposal envisages answering the above questions in several steps. (#1) By identifying existing indicators suitable for assessing resilience of SCIs. (#2) By identifying new “smart” resilience indicators (RIs) – including those from Big Data. (#3) By developing a new advanced resilience assessment methodology (TRL4) based on smart RIs (“resilience indicators cube”, including the resilience matrix). (#4) By developing the interactive “SCI Dashboard” tool. (#5) By applying the methodology/tools in 8 case studies, integrated under one virtual, smart-city-like, European case study. The SCIs considered (in 8 European countries!) deal with energy, transportation, health, water… Results #2, #3, #4 and #5 are a breakthrough innovation. This approach will allow benchmarking the best-practice solutions and identifying the early warnings, improving resilience of SCIs against new threats and cascading and ripple effects. The benefits/savings to be achieved by the project will be assessed by the reinsurance company participant. The consortium involves 7 leading end-users/industries in the area, 7 leading research organizations, supported by academia and lead by a dedicated European organization. External world leading resilience experts will be included in the CIRAB.

Border authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) across Europe face important challenges in how they patrol and protect the borders. Their work becomes more problematic considering the heterogeneity of threats, the wideness of the surveyed area, the adverse weather conditions and the wide range of terrains. Although there are several research tools and works targeting these areas independently for border surveillance, nowadays border authorities do not have access to an intelligent holistic solution providing all aforementioned functionalities. Towards delivering such a solution, ROBORDER aims at developing and demonstrating a fully-functional autonomous border surveillance system with unmanned mobile robots including aerial, water surface, underwater and ground vehicles, capable of functioning both as standalone and in swarms, which will incorporate multimodal sensors as part of an interoperable network. The system will be equipped with adaptable sensing and robotic technologies that can operate in a wide range of operational and environmental settings. To provide a complete and detailed situational awareness picture that supports highly efficient operations, the network of sensors will include static networked sensors such as border surveillance radars, as well as mobile sensors customised and installed on board unmanned vehicles. To succeed implementing an operational solution, a number of supplementary technologies will also be applied that will enable the establishment of robust communication links between the command and control unit and the heterogeneous robots. On top of this, detection capabilities for early identification of criminal activities and hazardous incidents will be developed. This information will be forwarded to the command and control unit that will enable the integration of large volumes of heterogeneous sensor data and the provision of a quick overview of the situation at a glance to the operators, supporting them in their decisions.