NEWSLETTER

FEBRUARY 2022

Dear Reader, please find our Newsletter (February 2022) to share with you the latest EU news and to keep you updated on PSCE activities in Public Safety Communications!

Table of contents

EU News

• The Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) held its Information Day
• The European Court of Auditors (ECA) reports on 5G roll-out in the EU
• The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) published its Interoperable EU Risk Management Framework Report

PSCE News

• PSCE Conference in Brussels - 2021: Report & Video Recap issued
• PSCE publishes its Annual Report 2021
• PSCE intensifies its cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) that launches an Intended Tender for a Demonstration Project

Project corner

• BroadGNSS invites you to Tender
• Respond- A is preparing its next Training Session
• Search & Rescue is preparing its next Webinar on Training for SaR operations
• CORE released its Website and Newsletter #1

EU News

The Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) held its Information Day

Last December 15 2021, the Smart Networks & Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) was formally established and the related Work Programme has been published.

From January 18 2022 to April 26 2022 , the SNS JU first Call will be open, that gives you time enough to discuss the opportunities for projects!

In this context, the European Commission (EC) and 6G-IA jointly organised the first ever SNS Information Day , last January 27 2022, to present you the previously mentioned Work Programme and Call .

All the presentations are available here .

All the latest and official information on SNS JU is findable here .

The ECA reports on 5G roll-out in the EU

Last January 24, the European Court of Auditors ( ECA ) published their Special Report 03/2022 5G roll-out in the EU: delays in deployment of networks with security issues remaining unresolved.

5G is expected to add up to €1 trillion to the European GDP between 2021 and 2025, with the potential to create or transform up to 20 million jobs across all sectors of the economy. We observed that delays are putting at risk the achievement of the EU’s objectives for 5G deployment and that further efforts are necessary to address security issues. In the report, we make a number of recommendations to the Commission aimed at pushing forward the timely and concerted implementation of secure 5G networks in the EU.

The ENISA published its Interoperable EU Risk Management Framework Report

PSCE News

PSCE Conference in Brussels - 2021: Report and Video Recap

As you read it in the previous newsletter, Public Safety Communication Europe ( PSCE ) organised its 23rd Conference in Brussels last 30th of November and 1st of December, in collaboration with the Belgian Federal Police. We were delighted to welcome around 80 participants, among which some of our Members, to meet, share and discuss on key topics in Public Safety and Disaster Management.

Thanks to high-level speakers, including EU officials from DG CNECT, DG ECHO, DG HOME, ESA), we addressed some of the most topical issues in public safety communications:

• Artificial Intelligence: how to enhance First Responders' Situational Awareness?
• Climate Emergency: how to improve preparedness?
• Mission Critical Applications using broadband communication.

The debates triggered by the topics will certainly contribute to improving the efficiency of public safety operations and PSCE is happy to be part of this drive and warmly thanks the Members, able to join, for coming.

Looking forward seeing you in our next edition in 2022, you will find hereinafter the Press Release and here below the PSCE Conference Report and Video Recap 2021 👇 .

PSCE Annual Report 2021

PSCE intensifies its cooperation with ESA that launches an Intended Tender for a Demonstration Project

PSCE is always willing to develop new space applications for public safety in cooperation with the European Space Agency : in 2020, (i) PSCE and ESA jointly signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) to support the utilisation of satellite applications for Public Safety, (ii) PSCE contributed to two user studies on " Satellite Applications for Public Safety " launched by ESA and led by ENEA and Arthur D Little, (iii) PSCE co-organised the workshop for presenting the results of previously mentioned studies. Moreover, sign of such coming together was the presence of ESA representatives as speakers in both of the PSCE Conferences held in 2021, online and in Brussels.

Last January 17 , PSCE was invited to take the floor at the ESA workshop on the Rapid and Resilient Crisis Response (R3) Accelerator , in presence of a High Level Advisory Group composed of experts (spacebased R3 Accelerator is proposed to be a federated solution interconnecting space and ground systems and services).

Last January 20 , PSCE was invited to attend the 4S Advisory Committee on Public Safety and present the promising applications as identified during the consultation of the practitioners during the 4S studies, in particular in view of the preparation of the below-mentioned 4S thematic call for proposals “ Space applications supporting digital transformation in public safety " due to be launched early March.

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Last week, the European Space Agency ( ESA ) published its new Call on Space applications supporting Digital transformation in Public safety , that is at the moment an Intended Tender for a Demonstration project, opening in March 1 and closing in November 1, 2022.

Digital Transformation is the change of business by altering the business strategy, operations, products, and objectives through adopting digital technologies. By implementing digital transformation, public safety stakeholders can make better informed decisions and create additional opportunities for cross-agency collaboration.  

This trend has been accelerated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which created unforeseen challenges for public safety stakeholders to find ways to enable their staff to work remotely by providing secure access to sensitive systems. As a result, the ways of working have changed and new technology has a critical role to play in supporting first responders, emergency call centres, and post-incident investigations.   

Telecommunications , together with its space component, is expected to play a major role in the Digital Transformation taking shape within the public safety domain. Therefore, ESA issues such a thematic Call to enable companies in delivering their business propositions to support public safety stakeholders in making this digital transformation.

An Informative Webinar is organised on February 16, from 11AM to 12PM (CET) to present the Call, explain the application process, and review the ESA background and objectives.

BroadGNSS invites you to Tender

Next Tuesday, February 22 , at the French Ministry of Interior in Paris, and in the frame of its Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP), the BroadGNSS team will welcome you to the Partnering event of the project. Such event will allow participants to partner with themselves and thus become potential consortium members, by sharing information on expertise needed or offered. 

PSCE invites you to use the Partnering tool until then, to add your company to the list and already have a view on potential future consortia partners. 

Then, a maximum of 10 and a minimum of 4 suppliers/supply teams will be selected, joint framework agreement between the buyer’s group and the suppliers, and a specific contract for the delivery of phase 1 Design Phase, will be signed. 

The Contract Notice was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and is now available on TED , formalising the launch of the Request for Tender (RFT) !

You can find all the information about the BroadGNSS PCP process here . 

Please find the Information page and Registration link .

Following its First Training Session (December 10 & 11, 2020) under a virtual environment (due to Covid-19 restrictions) on addressing maritime accidents in coastal and port areas by using novel technologies adapted to port and maritime authorities protection plans, and its Second Training Session (September 29 & 30, 2021) in Limassol (Cyprus) to familiarise first-responders with the use of seven RESPOND-A technologies, the RESPOND-A consortium will organise its Third Training Session next March 2 & 3 in Egaleo (Greece) to present more technologies (and developments on the previously presented ones) and get used to them.

All the information will be relayed on RESPOND-A Twitter and LinkedIn .