Brussels, 03/08/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission published a list of 13 research projects in the field of security, which were selected at the end of the second call for proposals in the framework of the preparatory action for security research. These projects- eight technological projects and five support activities- will share an envelope of 15 million EUR at the end of the contract negotiation period. As for the first call for proposals in 2004, the Commission hopes to be able to sign the contract before the end of the year. The second call for proposals (there will be one further call next year) was launched on 4 February. It met with the same success as the previous one, with no fewer than 156 dossiers put forward. These proposals were assessed by an independent panel of experts between 30 May and 4 June. As research in the field of defence is a matter for the Member States and e new European Defence Agency, the preparatory action for research on the field of security will concentrate mainly on the protection of infrastructure and of people against criminal acts and terrorism.
Here is the list of the 13 projects decided upon:
TRIPS is a project coordinated by the Italian company Ansaldo Trasporti-Sistemi Ferroviari S.p.A and which is made up of 17 participants from 10 countries, with a common objective of bringing together a raft of technologies (sensors, cameras, radars, scanners, etc) to detect potential terrorist threats (explosives, chemical, biological or nuclear substances) on trains, underground systems and tramways;
SOBCAH is coordinated by Galileo Avionics S.p.A of Italy, and comprises 16 partners from 10 different countries with the objectives of establishing a roadmap for solutions to be implemented with the aid of the seventh framework programme of research to improve border surveillance and protection;
ROBIN is a project piloted by the Technische Universität Dresden in Germany, and under which four partners from three countries are attempting to improve the protection of computer networks;
PATIN is headed up by the German company Diehl BGT Defence, and comprises 20 partners from 10 countries with the objective of establishing road maps for crisis management, interoperability and the optimisation of security networks, particularly in case of any attack affecting the air transport sector;
MARIUS brings together 13 partners from five countries, under the leadership of the European group EADS, and with the objective of developing a pre-operational crisis management PC which could be deployed very quickly and function completely autonomously;
PALMA is the name of another project led by EADS with the participation of 12 partners from four countries, with a view to protecting aircraft against portable missile systems (MANPADS);
HiTS/ISAC is a project coordinated by Saab AB, SV of Sweden, with 12 partners from 10 countries aiming to improve the operability and information-sharing capacities between information services to feed into the prevention of organised crime and terrorism;
PROBANT brings together five partners from three countries led by the French company Société d'Applications Technologiques de l'Imagerie Micro-Onde and aims to develop various technologies to identify and monitor individuals (sensors, signalisation techniques, biometric data, etc);
PETRA.NET is coordinated by the Sussex Police Authority of the United Kingdom with eight partners from six countries. This is a support activity, the objective of which is to set up a network between the security research community and users: police, the fire services, the emergency services and civil protection;
SECCOND is a project which brings together four partners from three different countries, led by the British company Thales Research and Technology Ltd, with a view to launching an international process to standardise the resources and techniques used in the identification and authentication of security data pertaining to containers in ports;
BSUAV is a support activity led by the French company Dassault Aviation. It brings together 10 partners from eight countries, working together to determine the potential contribution drones could make to border protection;
PRISE is a project relating to aspects of the protection of individual liberties and encouraging the public to accept new security technologies. Four partners from three countries are taking part in it. The project is headed up by the Austrian Science Academy;
USE IT relates to the exchange of sensitive information on the public arena, the scientific world or in business. The project will be the work of seven partners from four countries, and is led by CNES in France.