Dominic Kelly, Irina Marsh and Danielle Carbon represented CBRNE Ltd at the recent Project ULTIMATE (https://ultimate-project.eu/) consortium meeting on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th October. The event was held at the Thales Alenia Space site in Cannes, France. During a tour of the facility, Thales provided an exciting insight into satellite development. In the discussions that followed, the partners in the consortium identified relevant measures to further increase the impact of the project.
Latest News
The most recent announcements and updates from CBRNE
First official “post-project” Project ALIGNER update!
We are happy to announce that we have released an updated version of the ALIGNER Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment, which is now fully in line with the requirements of the EU hashtag#AIAct.
What’s the AFRIA? On behalf of ALIGNER, Centre for IT & IP Law (CiTiP) @KU Leuven and CBRNE Ltd have jointly developed the ALIGNER Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment (AFRIA), a tool addressed to hashtag#lawenforcement agencies who aim to deploy hashtag#AI systems for law enforcement purposes within the EU. The AFRIA is a reflective exercise, seeking to further enhance LEAs’ already existing legal and ethical governance systems, by assisting them in building and demonstrating compliance with ethical principles and fundamental rights while deploying AI systems.
Download the AFRIA here: https://lnkd.in/e3cGJaQw
New Article Published: “The Media and Early Warning Systems”
We are delighted to announce that Irina Marsh’s latest article, “The Media and Early Warning Systems”, has been published in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science. This insightful piece explores the critical role of media in early warning systems for natural hazards. This publication was made possible through the collaboration and expertise of co-authors Ed Conley, Amanda Coleman, Kjell Brataas, Dan Stoneking, and Ruxandra Mocanu. We invite you to read the article and gain valuable insights into how media can enhance early warning systems and improve disaster response. Oxford Research Encyclopedia
Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389407.013.490
#Research #NaturalHazards #EarlyWarningSystems #Media #OxfordEncyclopedia #TeamWork
Final event of project ALIGNER
CBRNE Ltd, a partner in Project ALIGNER successfully concluded the final event of ALIGNER at Centre for IT & IP Law (CiTiP) @KU Leuven on September 26th. The event gathered an impressive array of participants from hashtag#lawenforcement, policy, research, and industry sectors. We delved into critical discussions on the needs and opportunities of hashtag#AI for law enforcement, explored trajectories in research and industry, and methods to assess the impacts of AI technologies. We also talked about research and policy recommendations to address the needs, opportunities, and challenges posed by the use of AI by both criminals and law enforcement. Additionally, it was inspiring to look beyond the ALIGNER project, engaging in fruitful discussions with other remarkable projects such as our sibling projects STARLIGHT_H2020 and popAI Project, as well as AP4AI and TRANSCEND Horizon Europe. A heartfelt thank you to all who participated and contributed to this significant milestone. Together, we are shaping the future of AI in law enforcement!
Comparative review of 10 FRIAs
If you are interested in Fundamental Rights Impact Assessments (FRIA) for AI systems then with full acknowledgment and credit to “Algorithm Audit” and named co-creators please follow: Comparative review of 10 FRIAs (algorithmaudit.eu) . Project ALIGNER, in which CBRNE Ltd is a partner has its version included within the ten selected.
New publication
CBRNE is pleased to announce the publication of Ensuring fundamental rights compliance and trustworthiness of law enforcement AI systems: the ALIGNER Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment . The paper has was written by Donatella Casaburo of KU Leuven (Belgium) and supported by Dr Irina Marsh of CBRNE Ltd (UK). The initiative is part of CBRNE Ltd’s participation in Project ALIGNER (EU Horizon 2020-SU-AI-2020 – Topic SU-A101-2020 – Developing a research roadmap regarding Artificial Intelligence in support of Law Enforcement.
Save the date for the final event of project ALIGNER, September 26th
The EU-funded ALIGNER project has united European actors who have concerns about AI, law enforcement and policing to jointly identify and discuss how to enhance Europe’s security whereby AI strengthens law enforcement agencies while providing benefits to the public.
As a result of this work, ALIGNER has developed methods for impact assessments for AI technologies, drawn up policy recommendations – especially in the light of the newly adopted EU AI Act – and identified relevant research gaps.
At this final event, participants will learn about the results of the project and have the chance to discuss with practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers on opportunities, needs, and challenges regarding AI for law enforcement.
The hybrid event will take place on September 26, 2024, from 9 am to 5 pm CET at KU Leuven (Belgium) and MS Teams. Experts from other research projects are cordially invited to join by registering via: Registration for ALIGNER’s Hybrid Final Event (office.com)
Registration is open until September 8th.
NDA group establishes innovative partnership to manage asbestos waste at legacy nuclear sites
CBRNE Ltd, with a small stake in Thermachange Ltd, is pleased to announce it is part of a consortium that has won Phase 1 of an Asbestos Innovation Partnership (AIP) competition sponsored by the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in a 3 phased initiative to destroy Low Level Radioactive asbestos waste. Our Project name is REACT-2. Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nda-group-establishes-innovative-partnership-to-manage-asbestos-waste-at-legacy-nuclear-sites
CBRNE Ltd. at ULTIMATE meeting in Stockholm
CBRNE Ltd attended a Project ULTIMATE https://ultimate-project.eu/ consortium meeting on Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th April hosted at the premises of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. The meeting marked the half way point for the project in its aim to conduct research and innovation activities in the field of hybrid AI algorithm trained on data and model-based systems. During the discussions the consortium partners identified relevant actions to further strengthen the project impact. The development of the algorithms will ease the adoption (trustworthiness) of hybrid AI for application in complex and industrial environments. The novelty of the project lies in the development of new methodologies for modelling physical limitations and constraints as experienced by humans. Project ULTIMATE aims to improve the ability of AI algorithms to improve situational awareness and translate the signals to aid in the decision support system. Uniquely the project will demonstrate the hybrid AI algorithms in real-life environments under controlled settings to showcase the performance evaluation of the project outcomes.
CBRNE Ltd represents ALIGNER at 2024 InCyber Forum in Lille
28th March 2024
Following on from the news that CBRNE was to present at the 2024 InCyber Forum in Lille, France for and on behalf of Project ALIGNER (Horizon 2020) we are pleased to confirm this event has taken place with a good turnout. Irina Marsh of CBRNE Ltd and Donatella Casaburo of KU Leuven spoke on “ The ALIGNER Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment for the deployment of AI at Law Enforcement Agencies” and Lindsay Clutterbuck spoke on “Developing AI technology-focused policy recommendations for Police and Law Enforcement Agencies: The Project ALIGNER approach”
Donatella Casaburo (KU Leuven) and Irina Marsh (CBRNE Ltd.) at 2024 InCyber Forum
CBRNE Ltd participated in EU-Workshop on AI
CBRNE Ltd participated, 19th and 20th February in a Workshop for EU Horizon Europe Call CL4-2021-Human-01-01 Project ULTIMATE (Associate Partner funded under the UK Guarantee Fund by UKRI) at the premises of Robotnik in Valencia, Spain. Also represented was PIAP from Poland. Project ULTIMATE (mUlti-Level Trustworthiness to IMprove the Adoption of hybrid arTificial intelligence) is conducting research and innovation activities in the field of hybrid AI algorithm trained on data and model-based systems. The development of the algorithms will ease the adoption (trustworthiness) of hybrid AI for application in complex and industrial environments. The novelty of the project lies in the development of new methodologies for modelling physical limitations and constraints as experienced by humans.
CBRNE Ltd. presents at 2024 InCyber Forum
CBRNE Ltd is pleased to advise that Lindsay Clutterbuck and Irina Marsh (supported by Donatella Casaburo [Legal Researcher at KU Leuven Centre for IT and IP Law (CiTiP)]) are to give two Round Table presentations at the 2024 InCyber Forum, which will take place on 26, 27 and 28 March 2024 at Lille Grand Palais. The topics are:
- Irina Marsh and Donatella Casaburo – The ALIGNER Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment for the deployment of AI at Law Enforcement Agencies
“Artificial intelligence can enhance law enforcement agencies’ capabilities to prevent, investigate, detect and prosecute crimes, as well as to predict and anticipate them. However, despite the numerous promised benefits, the use of AI systems in the law enforcement domain raises numerous ethical and legal concerns. The ALIGNER Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment (AFRIA) is a tool addressed to LEAs who aim to deploy AI systems for law enforcement purposes within the EU. The AFRIA is a reflective exercise, seeking to further enhance LEAs’ already existing legal and ethical governance systems, by assisting them in building and demonstrating compliance with ethical principles and fundamental rights while deploying AI systems.”
- Lindsay Clutterbuck – Developing AI technology-focused policy recommendations for Police and Law Enforcement Agencies: The Project ALIGNER approach
“Development in the fields of data availability and AI technologies present ever greater challenges for law enforcement and policing. Criminals are exploiting new technology more quickly than law enforcement can bring new techniques to bear. AI provides the opportunity to commit new types of crime, enables some crime types to be committed on an industrial scale and facilitates many forms of ‘traditional’ crime. At the same time, the AI technology that enables these new crime patterns also offers opportunities for policing and law enforcement. To explore the opportunities and challenges it presents, project ALIGNER has established a forum for exchange between practitioners from policing law enforcement, civil society, policymaking, research, and industry to collaborate in identifying policy recommendations tailored to the operational needs of police and law enforcement agencies”
CBRNE Ltd. as ULTIMATE partner joins nine EU projects that collaborate for Trustworthy AI across Europe
Nine projects funded under the Horizon Europe call, HORIZON-CL4-2021-HUMAN-01-01, will help pave the way for the greater acceptance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across Europe. These projects share a common goal of shaping AI solutions that are innovative, human-centric and dependable. Amid others, the main focus is on verifiable robustness, energy efficiency and transparency.
Each of these projects brings a unique perspective to the broad realm of trustworthy AI. Driven by the collective aim of fostering trust and confidence in AI technology, these initiatives are geared towards enhancing transparency, explainability, accountability, safety and performance in systems using AI.
The collaborative spirit of these projects is clear as the projects embark on shared efforts to understand each other´s objectives and identify opportunities for synergies. These “cluster” activities work to ensure a cohesive strategy that aligns with the overall call objectives and the Digital Europe Strategy.
The following nine projects are part of the call and each project provides solid scientific solutions complemented by tools and processes for design, testing, validation, certification, software engineering methodologies and real-world applications.
- AutoFair: Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence with Guarantees
- ENEXA: Efficient Explainable Learning on Knowledge Graphs
- EVENFLOW: Robust Learning and Reasoning for Complex Event Forecasting
- REXASI-PRO: REliable and eXplAinable Swarm Intelligence for People with Reduced mObility
- SAFEXPLAIN: Safe and Explainable Critical Embedded Systems Based on AI
- SustainML: Application Aware, Life-Cycle Oriented Model-Hwardware Co-Design Framework for Sustainable, Energy Efficient ML Systems
- TALON: Autonomous and self-organized artificial intelligent orchestrator for a greener industry 4.0
- TUPLES: Trustworthy Planning and Scheduling with Learning and Explanations
- ULTIMATE: mUlti-Level Trustworthiness to IMprove the Adoption of hybrid arTificial intelligencE
By pooling their collective expertise, visions and communication channels, these projects aim to mutually amplify their impact.
The European AI strategy seeks to position the EU as a world-class hub for AI. This is why collaboration and synergies is a driving force of the European research landscape and a key player on the strategy. The core goal is to address the challenges of AI trust and uptake, ensuring that AI solutions are not only cutting-edge but that they also resonate with European values.
For more information about this collaboration and the projects funded under HORIZON-CL4-2021-HUMAN-01-01, visit https://cordis.europa.eu/search?q=contenttype%3D%27project%27%20AND%20programme%2Fcode%3D%27HORIZON-CL4-2021-HUMAN-01-01%27&p=1&num=10&srt=/project/contentUpdateDate:decreasing.
CBRNE is contributing to BSI with expertise in Ethics and Responsible Use of AI
CBRNE Ltd is pleased to advise that since January 2024, it is represented in the British Standard Association, Artificial Intelligence Committee (BSI-ART/1), by Dr Irina Marsh. Irina is an expert in “Ethics and Responsible Use of AI”. Irina is a permanent member and contributor to ISO-IEC JTC1-SC 42 WG3 Trustworthiness and CEN/CENELEC/JTC21, WG4 addressing foundational and societal aspects.
Project PROACTIVE – Boosting first responders’ response to hazardous threats
Here is the link to the EU Commission CORDIS website regarding the summary of the activities carried out for Project PROACTIVE: https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/448499-boosting-first-responders-response-to-hazardous-threats?WT.mc_id=exp
CBRNE Ltd was Work Package Lead for WP6 – the management of the three field exercises in Germany, Italy and Belgium.
ALIGNER initial policy recommendations
CBRNE Ltd is pleased to share six initial policy recommendations from Project ALIGNER. Further recommendations will follow. Click here to view: ALIGNER_Policy Recommendations
Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment (FRIA) template
The H2020 project ALIGNER [Artificial Intelligence Roadmap for Policing and Law Enforcement], in which CBRNE Ltd is a partner, has released a Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment (FRIA) template: ALIGNER_Flyer_Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment
This is a tool (instrument) ready to be implemented by police and law enforcement agencies planning to deploy AI systems for law enforcement purposes. The instrument is compliant with the AI Act, soon to be approved by the EU Commission.
Final Event of project popAI
Dominic Kelly attended the Final Event of Project popAI (https://www.pop-ai.eu/) in Brussels on Tuesday 19th September. The project consisted of 13 partners from 8 European countries, namely: Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, and Slovakia and was coordinated by The National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos” (NCSRD). We were briefed that the legacy of the project would be an “AI Hub” consisting of 3 pillars: (i) a Network; (ii) Tools and (iii) Services…… So we await to hear more!
Project ALIGNER (https://aligner-h2020.eu/) was represented by Dr. Daniel Lückerath of Fraunhofer Institute for intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS (ALIGNER Coordinator), Donatella Casaburo of KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law and Dominic Kelly of CBRNE Ltd.
Dominic Kelly, Daniel Lückerath and Donatella Casaburo representing ALIGNER at the final event of project popAI
Project PROACTIVE holds its 17th Consortium Meeting
The EU-funded H2020 PROACTIVE project, coordinated by the UIC Security Division, held its 17th consortium meeting on 26-27 July 2023 in Prague, Czech Republic. This was the final working meeting of the project and focused on the preparation of the remaining deliverables due before the end of August 2023.
The first day was dedicated to the PROACTIVE Crisis Communication System, which is made up of a collaborative web platform and mobile app (available on android and iOS). Three deliverables in total will be released which detail the project’s iterative co-creation process and technical development. The meeting also offered an excellent opportunity for the project partners to discuss the project’s final exploitation plan, which will focus on the Crisis Communication System.
On the second day, the partners concentrated on the undertaken joint field exercises. First up was the recently held third PROACTIVE field exercise, organised by Campus Vesta in conjunction with the eNOTICE project. After viewing the recently released field exercise video, partners offered their insights into the exercise and evaluation workshop deliverable (now published). This was followed by discussions on the key findings of and recommendations arising from all three of the field exercises, which will be detailed in the upcoming summary report.
Lastly, the partners discussed ongoing work on the ethical and societal assessments of PROACTIVE’s outputs. The feedback provided will be incorporated into the final version of the assessment.
In conclusion, the meeting offered a chance for all partners to engage with PROACTIVE’s important deliverables and complete the final tasks ahead of the project’s conclusion. Many thanks to the Population Protection Institute (PPI – Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic) for hosting the meeting in Prague.
PROACTIVE final exercise in Belgium
CBRNE Ltd, being the lead consortium member for organising the field exercises in Project PROACTIVE is pleased to give the link of a video of the 3rd and final exercise in Belgium on Saturday 13th May 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CneuezUQ1ZQ&t=2s
Project ALIGNER’s AI research roadmap
CBRNE Ltd – Partner in Project ALIGNER is please to share our current version of our Research Roadmap for AI in Support of Law Enforcement and Policing:
How do Law Enforcement Agencies cope with current and emerging trends in Artificial Intelligence? Which capabilities do they need to fight criminal misuse of AI? And how can AI be utilized by Law Enforcement Agencies in an ethically, legally, and societally acceptable way?
These and other questions are covered by ALIGNER’s AI research roadmap which you can access here.
2nd issue of Horizon Futures Watch Newsletter
We are glad to share the second issue of our Horizon Futures Watch Newsletter, presented by the Foresight on Demand (FOD) Consortium. The focus of this edition is on tackling security concerns and the future of science for policy. You will also find a collection of articles about the latest foresight developments in Horizon projects and beyond. The link takes you straight to Project ALIGNER subject matter but you can scroll up and down to get the full briefing.
Project ALIGNER (Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union [Grant Agreement No: 101020574]) 5th Workshop at the offices of Fraunhofer IAIS, Sankt Augustin, Germany 21st to 22nd June 2023
CBRNE Ltd participated in the above workshop with special attention to the participation of the ALIGNER Advisory Board who attended either in person or virtually. The Advisory Board members provided their opinion and feedback on scenarios and AI technologies put to them by CBRNE and FOI. We also provided examples from practices when AI is used for cybercrime. At another session CBRNE and Fraunhofer IAIS asked the Advisory Board members to provide feedback on identified and emerging trends and their potential impacts. In addition CBRNE led a discussion, which was well received and prompted plenty of useful feedback regarding the approach to assessing and mitigating risk and associated methods for impact assessment. Lastly, CBRNE led the discussion on Policy Recommendations with an assessment on how ALIGNER’s compared with that of Projects popAI and STARLIGHT. The latter projects both gave presentations updating attendees at the workshop on their progress and deliberations to date. The photograph shows a popAI PowerPoint page describing its activities (in a nutshell) but is an excuse to show the magnificent surroundings afforded by Fraunhofer IAIS premises in its “castle”.
Project ALIGNER released new assessment instrument
Project ALIGNER (Funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union Grant Agreement No 101020574), in which CBRNE Ltd is a partner, released its Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment (FRIA) template, an instrument that allows law enforcement agencies to identify and mitigate the impact their AI systems have on individuals and society. You can read it via this link.
Three major pandemic and CBRN projects join forces to strengthen Europe’s capacity against future health crises
eNOTICE, PROACTIVE and PANDEM-2 projects host three-day conference at BAO Centre, Brussels
(13 June 2023) Three EU-funded projects have jointly organised a three-day conference in Brussels to showcase their new tools and technologies developed to strengthen Europe’s response to future CBRNe (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive) and health crises. After a combined thirteen years of research, the eNOTICE, PROACTIVE (coordinated by UIC, the International Union of Railways) and PANDEM-2 projects are ready to showcase their developments including a fully integrated dashboard for pandemic management, toolkits for CBRNe practitioners and civil society and enhanced CBRNe training capacity. In collaboration with CMINE, the projects will meet with members of the European Commission including the REA, DG HOME, DG SANTE, DG HERA and ECDC who are a member of the PANDEM-2 Advisory Board.
While Covid-19 was spreading at a rapid rate, demonstrating the need to address CBRNe risks and threats, the eNOTICE, PROACTIVE and PANDEM-2 projects each worked on different aspects of crisis management and response with real-time inputs from public health agencies, first responders and civil society organisations across Europe. Although each project has distinct aims and objectives, they all worked towards one shared goal: to protect the public by ensuring better preparedness and response for future crises. In addition, the projects identified various common recommendations which apply to both CBRNe events and pandemics.
PROACTIVE partners Tony Godwin (CBRNE Ltd), Åsa Burlin (Umeå University) and project coordinator Grigore Havarneanu (UIC)
With combined funding of €18.5 million, the research between eNOTICE, PROACTIVE and PANDEM-2 tackles current challenges in crisis preparedness and response and provides solutions that acknowledge ongoing processes and systems currently used across Europe.
eNOTICE coordinators Jean-Luc Gala and Olga Vybornova from the Université catholique de Louvain speaking on the network status said:
“eNOTICE has matured to the point where it can contribute to capacity and capability building in the field of institutional and collective preparedness and response to CBRN cross-border events. Having mapped and labelled the capabilities of European training centres (TC), they are now categorised based on their expertise, training and testing capabilities, training infrastructure and specificities, and linked together via a continuously updated online information and communication platform – eNOTICE Community Center. From now on, this highly visible cooperative network is in a position to develop cross-disciplinary activities that bring together CBRN and safety stakeholders while striving for practitioner interoperability and procedure harmonisation.”
Grigore Havârneanu, Coordinator of the PROACTIVE project from the International Union of Railways, Paris, France added to this:
“PROACTIVE can help security practitioners make CBRNe crisis preparedness and response fair, accessible and inclusive. Over the last 50 months we’ve been liaising with more than 100 practitioner organisations and more than 50 civil society organisations, including vulnerable groups. These stakeholders have been directly engaged in our multitude of research and innovation activities. This strong engagement allowed PROACTIVE to co-create a crisis communication system for both practitioners and citizens as well as pre-incident information materials for the general public. These tools have been tested in three field training exercises where members of the public interacted with first responders. These outputs, combined with an Aide Memoire on how to include civil society in future exercises, will hopefully allow CBRNe practitioners and policymakers to improve societal resilience. I sincerely hope that PROACTIVE is a major step forward in bridging the gap between the technical aspects of CBRNe and behavioural science.”
Speaking at the conference today, PANDEM-2 coordinator Professor Máire Connolly from the University of Galway commented:
“Over the past two and a half years, PANDEM-2 has looked specifically at developing a suite of novel concepts, services and IT systems to improve how Europe prepares for and responds to future pandemics and now we’re ready to share these with Europe’s crisis managers. We’ve also developed innovations in training and increased capacity between EU member states responding to pandemics on a cross-border which we hope will continue even further. In recent years, we’ve seen more instances of cross-border crises, including climate change, terrorism, international trade disputes and global health threats. These emergency situations require large-scale planning for preparedness and response for countries to be able to cope with unforeseen challenges. To do this, we must collaborate and respond at an EU level which is why the conference today is so important and a step in that direction”.
For more information on the outputs of each project visit their corresponding websites here: eNOTICE, PROACTIVE, and PANDEM-2.
The link to the above Press Realease is: https://mailchi.mp/uic/three-major-pandemic-and-cbrn-projects-join-forces-to-strengthen-europes-capacity-against-future-health-crises?e=1970f1ba7d
CBRNE Ltd support for rebuilding Ukraine
CBRNE Ltd has signed The Business Compact as a declarative business community support for Ukraine. If you wish to show similar support here is the link to a public sign up page accessible at: https://www.urc-international.com/business-organization-application
Project PROACTIVE third field exercise in Ranst, Belgium
PROACTIVE EU project held its third field exercise, organised by Campus Vesta, in conjunction with project eNOTICE, CBRNE Ltd is the Project PROACTIVE partner leading Work Package 6 with overall responsibility for organising the three field exercises. The previous two were in Dortmund (Germany) and Rieti (Italy).
The EU H2020 funded project PROACTIVE (“PReparedness against CBRNE threats through cOmmon Approaches between security praCTItioners and the VulnerablE civil society”), coordinated by the UIC Security Division, held its third field exercise, organised by Campus Vesta, in conjunction with the EU funded H2020 project eNOTICE.
The event took place on 13 May in Ranst, Belgium as part of the multidisciplinary disaster exercise which Campus Vesta, the Training Center for police officers, firefighters and medical emergency personnel of the Province of Antwerp, organises annually as the final exam of their Post Graduate course on Disaster Management. PROACTIVE consortium partners worked together with Campus Vesta in the planning and execution of the exercise.
The joint action was an inter-agency exercise, with a scenario capable of involving all five Belgian disciplines for emergency response: fire brigade, medical services, police, civil protection and communications.
The CBRNe scenario used in the exercise was based on disgruntled students at a bio technological university who had recently been expelled, and as such they decided to take revenge and maliciously attack the university. The university had received threats from the disgruntled students stating that the university would soon get “a taste of their own medicine.”
During a reception gathering at the university, around 50 guests who had been offered cheesecake start getting sick. The university immediately calls the emergency services. Unbeknownst to them, the disgruntled students had contaminated the cakes with a biological agent. At about the same time that symptoms develop, those same students show up at the reception and throw an unknown powder over the guests.
This meant the first responders had a complex situation to address when arriving at the scene.
A unique feature of this exercise is that project PROACTIVE involved members of the public as role play volunteers, or in this case, as the “guests” at the reception. Doing so is different to the frequently used practice in training exercises when experts or actors play the role of the victims. In this joint exercise, the volunteers who played the role of the victims were civilians with no prior knowledge of CBRNe incidents. Out of these, several of the volunteers represented vulnerable groups, such as older persons, persons with vision or hearing impairments, or persons with reduced mobility. A service dog was also present in the group of victims.
The volunteers underwent triage and some of those exposed to the powder underwent decontamination. All the involved practitioners experienced first-hand the additional technical and communication challenges linked to the decontamination process of persons with vulnerabilities. Overcoming these gaps is in line with PROACTIVE’s main goal, which is to increase practitioner effectiveness in managing large, diverse groups of people in a CBRNe environment.
The exercise presented an opportunity for first responders to personally experience the needs and expectations of civil society. The exercise also allowed PROACTIVE to observe key challenges for future scenarios that will be addressed further in our project. Lessons learned were collected through debriefing workshops just after the exercise.
PROACTIVE project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 832981. eNOTICE project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 740521.
New publication available
Dr Krishna Chandramouli, an AI subject matter expert with CBRNE Ltd has jointly published Security Technologies and Social Implications which explains how the latest technologies can advance policing and security, identify threats, and defend citizens from crime and terrorism. A copy can be obtained via: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/9781119834144
LATEST NEWS from CBRNE Ltd’s participation in Project ALIGNER
Artificial intelligence can incredibly enhance law enforcement agencies’ capabilities to prevent, investigate, detect and prosecute crimes, as well as to predict and anticipate them. However, despite the numerous promised benefits, the use of AI systems in the law enforcement domain raises numerous ethical and legal concerns.
On behalf of Project ALIGNER, KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law (CiTiP) and CBRNE Ltd have jointly developed the ALIGNER Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment (AFRIA), a tool addressed to LEAs who aim to deploy AI systems for law enforcement purposes within the EU. The AFRIA is a reflective exercise, seeking to further enhance LEAs’ already existing legal and ethical governance systems, by assisting them in building and demonstrating compliance with ethical principles and fundamental rights while deploying AI systems. News about the AFRIA can be found at: https://aligner-h2020.eu/the-aligner-fundamental-rights-impact-assessment/
The AFRIA consists of two connected and complementary templates:
- The Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment template, which helps LEAs identify and assess the impact of their AI systems on those fundamental rights most likely to be infringed; and
- The AI System Governance template, which helps LEAs identify the relevant ethical standards for trustworthy AI and mitigate the impact on fundamental rights.”
The following link will provide you access to the templates and handbook: https://aligner-h2020.eu/fundamental-rights-impact-assessment-fria/
Access to this tool is available as part of the Project ALIGNER’s exploitation initiative and requests for further information should be directed to Donatella Casaburo donatella.casaburo@kuleuven.be or Irina Marsh irina.marsh@cbrneltd.com
PROACTIVE Update of the joint exercise meeting in Belgium
The UIC eNews article about the meeting is available here: https://uic.org/com/enews/article/the-eu-proactive-project-holds-its-15th-consortium-meeting-in-brussels
LATEST NEWS from CBRNE Ltd’s participation in Project ALIGNER
Artificial intelligence can incredibly enhance law enforcement agencies’ capabilities to prevent, investigate, detect and prosecute crimes, as well as to predict and anticipate them. However, despite the numerous promised benefits, the use of AI systems in the law enforcement domain raises numerous ethical and legal concerns.
On behalf of Project ALIGNER, KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law (CiTiP) and CBRNE Ltd have jointly developed the ALIGNER Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment (AFRIA), a tool addressed to LEAs who aim to deploy AI systems for law enforcement purposes within the EU. The AFRIA is a reflective exercise, seeking to further enhance LEAs’ already existing legal and ethical governance systems, by assisting them in building and demonstrating compliance with ethical principles and fundamental rights while deploying AI systems.
The AFRIA consists of two connected and complementary templates:
- The Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment template, which helps LEAs identify and assess the impact of their AI systems on those fundamental rights most likely to be infringed; and
- The AI System Governance template, which helps LEAs identify the relevant ethical standards for trustworthy AI and mitigate the impact on fundamental rights.”
Access to this tool is available as part of the Project ALIGNER’s exploitation initiative and requests for information should be directed to Donatella Casaburo donatella.casaburo@kuleuven.be or Irina Marsh irina.marsh@cbrneltd.com
PROACTIVE joint exercise planning meeting in Belgium
On May 13th. PROACTIVE will be actively present in the third Joint Activity (or Exercise) in Ranst (Belgium), where an exercise is organised by Campus Vesta (as an active consortium partner of the eNOTICE project with which PROACTIVE has an agreement of cooperation).
In preparation of this exercise, the PROACTIVE and Campus Vesta Planning Teams engaged in a successful discussion on key elements of the management of the exercise at Campus Vesta’ s premises.
Between Monday the 27th and Tuesday the 28th of February, the PROACTIVE team had intensive meetings with the Belgian colleagues. Partners included Tony Godwin and Dominic Kelly from CBRNE Ltd. (PROACTIVE Exercise Planning Leader), Daniel Strömberg, Åsa Burlin and Per-Erik Johansson from Umeå University in Sweden (PROACTIVE Exercise Direction in Ranst), Dale Weston from UKHSA (PROACTIVE Evaluation Lead of all three exercises) and Danielle Carbon from DHPol in Germany (PROACTIVE Exercise Direction in the previous joint exercises).
The planning hosts of Campus Vesta, Including Pieter Van Turnhout (General Manager), Wendy Van den Branden (director), Ronald Ackermans (director) Maaike van de Vorst (eNOTICE project coordinator at Campus Vesta ) and Luc Calluy, organised key meetings with Civil Society Representatives to steer the recruitment of volunteers.
Both teams jointly visited the location where the exercise will take place.
Project PROACTIVE’s Final Guidelines for Civil Society Organisation: Protecting Children in CBRNe Incidents
PROACTIVE developed a guideline on how to improve the protection of children within the CBRNe environment. The final document can be accessed via the following link: https://proactive-h2020.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Proactive-Policy-Brief-2-ERC28-02.pdf
PROACTIVE Update of 14th Project Meeting
Project PROACTIVE 1st Ranst Exercise Planning Meeting and 14th Project Meeting in Barcelona
CBRNE Ltd (UK). and Umeå University (Sweden) successfully completed the 1st Field Exercise Planning Meeting to manage the third PROACTIVE/eNOTICE exercise in Ranst, Belgium to take place on the 13th May 2023. The meeting on January 10th in Barcelona took place prior to the 14th PROACTIVE Progress Meeting on June 11th and 12th.
Project partner ETICAS (Spain) hosted the 14th Progress Meeting in their headquarters near Plaza España, Barcelona. On behalf of CBRNE, Dominic Kelly, Tony Godwin, Irina Marsh, Danielle Carbon, and Nigel Hale presented the recent activities of CBRNE’s Work packages. Updates were made on the management of the Practitioners Stakeholder Advisory Board, the planning process of the Ranst exercise, the final deliverable of the Rieti exercise in last November, and the upcoming Aide Memoire for enlisting vulnerable people in CBRNe exercises and trainings.
First impressions can be found on PROACTIVE’s LinkedIn profile.
Project PROACTIVE second field exercise in Rieti, Italy
CBRNE Ltd on Wednesday 16th November 2022 successfully completed the management of Project PROACTIVE’s second field exercise in Rieti, Italy in conjunction with the exercise host, Scuola Interforze per la Difesa NBC (Italian NBC School). The latter organisation is a partner of Horizon 2020 Project eNOTICE which provides venues for CBRNE exercises. Uniquely the exercise included 30 civilians including those with vulnerabilities. The Practioners included the Carabinieri, fire fighters, Italian Red Cross, practioners from the Sampling and Identification of Biological, Chemical, and Radiological Agents (SIBCRA) unit and the Italian army. The scenario surrounded the release of chlorine at an indoor train station. Italian Railway Employees immediately initiated evacuation measures, after which the Practitioners performed triage, sampling, detection and decontamination activities outside.
As the PROACTIVE exercise director of the Rieti exercise, CBRNE Ltd was the key point of contact with the NBC School ensuring each party’s tactical and strategic aims and objectives were mutually compatible and effective. CBRNE Ltd was also responsible for ensuring the Use Case Scenario played out by the hosts of the field exercise were applicable to the PROACTIVE evaluation criteria. The evaluation of the exercise was led by a team from the PROACTIVE partner UKHSA. Apart from the evaluators, 15 international PROACTIVE and eNOTICE observers from six different countries collected relevant observational data.
PROACTIVE and eNOTICE at NBC School following the post-exercise joint evaluation Workshop
PROACTIVE installed various security measures of ethics, health and safety, data protection and dignity to protect the involved civilians. As part of this, CBRNE Ltd was responsible for managing the multiple processes which included detailed briefings of all parties, transportation arrangements, the video and photography team, catering company and most importantly the handling of the personal possessions of the civilian volunteers throughout the wet decontamination phase. With the help of the University of Rome, Save the Children (Italy), CARITAS and local Rieti inhabitants, CBRNE Ltd also managed the recruitment and registration of volunteers in advance, ensuring their safe attendance during the exercise and coordinating their feedback to UKHSA via focus groups at the end of the exercise.
The PROACTIVE core-planning team at the Exercise Area after the successful exercise (Tony Godwin, Andreas Arnold, Nigel Hale, Danielle Carbon, Dominic Kelly, Irina Marsh)
Photographs and video content will be released soon. The evaluation and observational data can be found in the upcoming PROACTIVE Deliverable D6.4 which will be available on the project’s webpage (https://proactive-h2020.eu/). If you are interested in the previous exercise in Dortmund, please check out Deliverable D6.3 and the videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwnSRDun5W3iaRRl8LAGXew).
Project PROACTIVE at the NEEDS Conference in Cophenhagen
On Wednesday 2nd November Dominic Kelly, Managing Director of CBRNE Ltd represented EU Horizon 2020 Project PROACTIVE at the NEEDS Conference https://jura.ku.dk/cilg/calendar/2022/needs-2022/ in Copenhagen, Denmark. The title of his presentation which was given on behalf of Åsa Burlin from European CBRNE Center UMEA University was: “Involving Vulnerable Groups in CBRNe incident training – Ethical Considerations and Risks Worth Taking”
Alongside him giving presentations were Shya Uekusa from University of Canterbury who spoke on “Invisible vulnerability” Linguistically minoritized/marginalised people in disasters, emergencies and crises and Alexandra Olson from EENA – the European Emergency Number Association who spoke about “Towards more inclusive crisis communication” and lastly Kristi Nero from the University of Tartu who spoke about “Caring organisations role as intermediaries between the authorities and the marginalised in crisis communications”
The session was chaired by Tor-Olav Naevestad of The Institute of Transport Economics, Oslo, Norway.