On 3 September 2018 in Warsaw, PSCE chaired the second pannel on interoperability and multi-agency disaster response at the 3rd Innovation For Crisis Mangement (I4CM) event in Warsaw. The session was first introduced by Marie-Christine Bonnamour (PSCE Secretary-General) and chaired by Manfred-Blaha, PSCE board member and head of the practitioners committee. The event was also the occasion to present the BroadWay project, coordinated by PSCE.

What are the I4CM events?

The Innovation for Crisis Management (I4CM) events aim to contribute to building a shared understanding in Crisis Management through the organisation of an annual event focusing on Crisis Management topics, allowing to address issues of common interest, to develop synergies between initiatives and to discuss the research roadmap for Horizon 2020 and beyond. The event allows local practitioners and solution providers to meet and exchange on best practices and lessons learnt, while providing projects and initiatives with an opportunity to increase their visibility and impact and to liaise with any interested stakeholders, including organisations developping similar projects in other regions of the world. It intends to make projects in the field of Crisis Management accessible to a wider range of external stakeholders in a specific region.

What is the focus of this edition?

This new edition focused on standardisation and identified regional-national pressing issues faced by local practitioners such as inter-agencies cooperation and interoperability of communication systems. Furthermore, this edition gave the participants the opportunity to hear about (1) the initial results of the first Trial organised by DRIVER+, conducted in Warsaw from May 21 to 25, 2018 but also to receive the latest information about the organisation of the second Trial to be organised in Valabre (France) in October 2018

In August 2018, ETSI published a new Plugtests Report. This document is a useful input for the Open Market Consultation and underlines the different Plugtests’ events that have been recently organised and their results.

For more information

ETSI Plugtests full report

On 24 July 2018, the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides made a statement on the recent fires in Greece:

"Today is a day of great sorrow for Greece and for all of Europe.

The EU stands with the Greek people in solidarity at this difficult time.

Let me express our condolences to the families and friends of the victims of these devastating fires that have caused so much suffering and a tragic loss of life.

As announced by President Juncker in his letter, I will travel to Athens today to meet with the Greek civil protection authorities and coordinate the EU assistance which is already on its way.

I spoke with Prime Minister Tsipras yesterday night and I am in constant contact with him in order to offer the Commission's full support to the Greek authorities and people.

At this stage, I would like to thank Cyprus, Spain and Bulgaria who have already made immediate offers of concrete assistance through our EU Civil Protection Mechanism: planes, firefighters, medics and vehicles.

Together we are working 24/7 to help the brave first responders and emergency services working tirelessly to help those in need."

For more information

President Juncker's letter

EU's Civil Protection Mechanism

Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC)

On 21 July 2018, the European Commission pledged to provide additional help for Sweden as it seeks to contain dozens of fires that have been raging for over a week across hundreds of hectares of the country.

The EU's emergency Copernicus satellite is also helping Sweden provide damage assessment maps of the affected areas.

The European Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre, which monitors natural disasters 24/7, is in contact with the Swedish civil protection authorities and is closely monitoring developments and any other assistance that could be requested.

"The Commission has been working 24/7 since Sweden requested EU assistance to battle the unprecedented forest fires as hundreds of hectares burn in the regions of Jamtland, Gavleborg, Dalarna, Norrbotten and Vasterbotten," according to a statement.

Aircraft are already being provided by Italy and France and more support will be offered by Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Denmark through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

"The EU stands by the Swedish government and the Swedish people in their time of need," said the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides. "This is solidarity in action. This is what our citizens expect in a Europe that protects" he added.

For more information

Statement by Commissioner Christos Stylianides