4th Call for application (Closed)
Are you driving innovation in Crisis Management? Are you developing and deploying socio-technical solutions for first responders? Do you provide innovations being a game changer for operational, tactical and strategic decision makers?
We need you to share your innovations with the Crisis Management community! DRIVER+ organises a series of Trials which investigate innovative solutions under simulated crisis conditions. With this call for application, we invite you to participate to the forth event.
WHY SHOULD YOU APPLY?
Participating in the DRIVER+ project features great opportunity to spread out your product to the European Crisis Management community. Within the Trials, you will be in contact with a large group of actors who are working and researching in the domain. Information on your solution will be taken up in our digital Portfolio of Solutions. Thereby, your solution gains visibility to a wide audience not only within DRIVER+ but also, as part of the Portfolio of Solutions, to other interested parties in and beyond Europe.
Participating in the Trial will enable you to:
- Get a better understanding of the needs of the crisis management practitioners;
- Test the integration of your solution into a complete crisis management system, based on a scenario developed by experts;
- Get first hand feedback from operational experts who have tested your solution in a controlled environment and scientifically sound setting;
- Get new insights to advance in the development of your solution;
- Experience how the DRIVER+ Test-bed enhances capability development.
SCENARIO
The central area of Austria has been strucked by a heavy earthquake and subsequent heavy rains. The local region of Eisenerz is one of the most affected with missing persons, casualties, collapsed buildings, blocked roads, and endangered industries working with hazardous substances.
Inhabitants have left their houses being afraid of aftershocks and collapsing of buildings. They have to spend the next days outdoor due to the lack of temporary shelter and blocked roads.
Similarly, the is a disruption of lifelines such as water, food, shelter, transportation and medical care. Electricity and mobile networks are severely damaged.
All local and national emergency response organisations have been deployed on site (Austrian Red Cross, fire brigades and the army); however, due the extension of the affected area and an overwhelmed national response capacities, the Union Civil Protection Mechanism was activated. A request of international assistant was activated in regards to medical treatment, water purification and search and rescue.
Due to the difficulty to access the affected area and considering the impact of the disaster, there is an urgent need for humanitarian assistance and assessment.
A large amount of volunteers and rescue equipment is needed to deal with the increasing number of affected people i.e. search and rescue, shelter, medical care, water food and transportation.
Additionally, there is also an urgent need for the management of spontaneous volunteers.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
We are looking for solutions. A solution is a building block that contributes to a Crisis Management function. Solutions can be technologies, tools, methods, concepts, or recommendations that regard potential technical, organizational, procedural, legal, policy, societal, or ethical improvements to the European Crisis Management legacy.
We are especially looking for solutions addressing the following capability needs:
- Real time data and information fusion to support incicent commander decision-making;
- Volunteer management (location, tasking, capabilities and duration of operations);
- Incorporating information from multiple and non-traditional sources;
- Psychological support (capability to measure stress and/or improving the communication and the awareness of psychological stress of those affected);
- Interaction with the population: (1) Micro-learning capabilities to communicate to population safety information and recommendations on what they can do during a crisis, (2) Registration of affected people, (3) Delivering information from the public to the emergency management authorities.
- Evaluation: Crisis Management evaluation methodology/tools for performance assessment and how to learn from self-experience.
TRIAL SETUP
The Trial will be organised as a multi-day field exercise under the framework and in parallel of a Large Scale European Civil Protection exercise. National emergency organisations will be present with their volunteers and experts while making use of equipment, vehicles and tools in simulated disasters scenarios.
ACTORS IN THE TRIAL
The scenario will require a commitment of stakeholders from every Crisis Management level and from all the agencies participating in the response: Austrian Red Cross, Austrian Fire Brigades, Police, Army, decision-makers and authorities.
Other emergency response organisations from neighboring countries are expected to participate following the procedures from the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). Exercises will also serve as testing environment for introduction and establishment of the standard operational procedures (SOPs), standards and concepts, of the UCPM within central European region.
Actions will be taken by the stakeholders in a realistic information environment, based on currently available means, crisis management plans, rescue procedures and good practices of participants.
DEADLINE IS 29th OCTOBER, 2018
This call is now closed
HOW TO PARTICIPATE?
1. Read the Call for application.
2. Answer 10 questions about your solution carefully.
3. Submit your application.
4. Wait until 17th January 2019 for the review results.
5. If you get pre-selected following the Call for Application, you will be invited to a solution demonstration event. At the event you will present and demonstrate your solution to the Trial committee, who will then select the most suitable solutions for the Trial. For more information, see “Trial Process Overview” below.
Any Question?
For any questions and enquiries regarding the Trial and its scenarios, you may post a question in the DRIVER+ External Cooperation Platform for Solution Providers. This is the online meeting place for solution providers to interact and share information, experiences and best practices, and to get informed about cooperation opportunities with DRIVER+.
To access the platform go directly to join the DRIVER+ external cooperation platform today! Once you have signed up please join the sub-group dedicated to Solution providers – questions regarding the Trial and the Call for application can be posted in the “Questions” section. If you are not registered in the CMT, please proceed first to https://cmt.eurtd.com/register.