CBRNE technologies have crucial civil applications, enhancing public safety, environmental protection, food and water safety, industrial safety, and border control. In the Southern CEE region, the adoption of cutting-edge, research-based CBRNE technologies is essential to address challenges like geopolitical tensions, environmental issues, infrastructure vulnerabilities, and border security. Despite strong research capacities, the region struggles with fragmented networks and slow market adoption. In contrast, Western and Northern Europe have seen success due to better funding, collaboration, and innovation ecosystems. The GROUNDUP project aims to build a strong CBRNE innovation ecosystem in the Southern CEE region by uniting diverse stakeholders, including researchers, students, businesses, and NGOs. Through collaboration, engagement, and capacity-building activities, the project seeks to enhance knowledge exchange and technology development. GROUNDUP focuses on mentoring high-potential young innovators and connecting the Southern CEE region to more developed innovation networks. This initiative aims to create sustainable impacts regionally and across the EU. The GROUNDUP project focuses on four key objectives to strengthen the CBRNE innovation ecosystem in Southern CEE. First, it will establish a Business Community, integrating stakeholders from the European CBRNE technology market value chain to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. Second, it aims to create an Education and Research Hub, bringing together higher education institutions and research organizations to advance knowledge and technology development in CBRNE fields. Third, GROUNDUP will enhance entrepreneurship by linking young innovators with enterprises through a mentoring program. Lastly, the project seeks to expand its impact through communication activities and large-scale clustering to ensure the widespread dissemination of results.

The overall goal of ROCSAFE is to fundamentally change how CBRNe events are assessed, in order to and ensure the safety of crime scene investigators by reducing the need for them to enter high-risk scenes when they have to determine the nature of threats and gather forensics. For this, ROCSAFE will make use of cost-effective modern remotely-controlled robotic air and ground vehicles (RAVs/RGVs) that are designed for use in rain, wind, and challenging ground surfaces and obstacles. First, RAVs will assess the scene. These will have cameras and can carry an array of innovative new high-performance and rugged miniaturised sensor systems for RN, chemical and biological threats. To reduce the scene commander’s cognitive load, ROCSAFE will include new Central Decision Management software and a Command Centre. All images and data will be streamed to this, where it will be analysed and displayed on a sophisticated and intuitive interface with maps and video, showing results of analytics and giving readings geographical context. This will enable the scene commander to assess the nature of threats, develop an Action Plan and an Evidence Plan, supported as needed by the Central Decision Management. It will also assist in coordinating sensors and mobile units. Its data analytics will provide fusion of multiple sensor data sources, to allow probabilistic reasoning about the most likely threats and likely locations of epicentres. After the scene is assessed, RGVs will be dispatched to collect forensic material/evidence, with automatically-optimised routes to avoid hazards. They will have innovative new equipment for forensics collection that will automate best practices. Forensic material will be collected, bagged, tagged, documented, and stored by the RGV. Thus, ROCSAFE will ensure that CBRNe scenes are assessed more rapidly and thoroughly than is currently possible, and that forensic evidence is collected in a manner that stands up in court, without putting personnel at risk.