On 19 January 2021, the first day of PSCE’s two-day bi-annual conference, the lead contractors of the three supply teams currently participating in the second phase (Prototype Development) of the BroadWay pre-commercial procurement (PCP) project - Airbus DS SLC, Leonardo S.p.A. and Frequentis AG, were each invited to give a presentation on their concept and progress to participants.  

The BroadWay PCP, which officially started in May 2018, is driven by 11 buyers from 11 Member States who share a common need for a pan-European interoperable mobile system for PPDR. The PCP is a competitive process, governed by EU rules and legislation, designed to compare different approaches to the buyers’ common needs on a phased basis – and to eventually select the supply teams that best address this challenge.  

You can view each of the supply team’s videos and presentations from the PSCE conference, which is preceded by a short introductory presentation from David Lund, the Coordinator of the BroadWay project. You can watch each presentation below: 

• Airbus DS SLC’s presentation, given by Eric Davalo, Vice President of Strategic Development at Airbus DS SLC, emphasised that BroadWay is critical to all Europe countries and as it is driven by end-user needs in security and public safety; it is key to have an operational solution that is not too complex for those already dealing with stressful situations. 

• Leonardo S.p.A.‘s presentation given byClaudio Becchetti, Head of Product, Services and Solutions Portfolio, at Leonardo S.p.A. stressed the importance of going from technology to operations, with an emphasis on standards. 

• Frequentis AG’s presentation, given by Charlotte Roesener, New Business Development Manager at Frequentis AG, emphasised their target of delivering a transparent and seamless operational solution that allows safety-critical communication all over Europe. 

The next stage of the PCP is the technical evaluation of the three prototypes developed coupled with a practitioner assessment of the usability of the solutions, due in spring 2021.  

You can also review the presentations of the PSCE conference here, which had a total of 25 speakers, covering topical focus for the Public Safety sector. 

On 16 December 2020, the Parliament and EU Member States reached a political agreement on the EU space programme, deciding that the EU space programme would bring all existing and new space activities under the umbrella of a single programme.  

With a €13.202 billion budget agreed by the co-legislators, the EU space programme is expected to develop further the current European flagship programmes — Copernicus for earth observation and Galileo and EGNOS for satellite navigation.  

These two flagships of the EU's space policy _ Copernicus and Galileo — represent a great contribute to the public safety sector, namely, to enhance critical communications and situational awareness but also to respond quickly in times of natural disaster and crisis.

The EU space programme will also enable the launching of European initiatives in satellite communication (GOVSATCOM) and on Space Situational Awareness (SSA) to protect space infrastructure from space debris. 

On 9 December 2020, Commissioner Thierry Breton described the space programme as a “fast changing landscape”, outlining the EU’s next steps in this arena. 

“Innovation cycles are shortening. New private actors are emerging — bringing with them new concepts, new business models and disruptive technologies”, wrote Breton on his Linkedin profile. 

The Internal Market Commissioner said that secure connectivity and quantum encryption are among the expected outputs from space applications. 

“Low earth orbit constellations will allow Europe to benefit from space-based high-speed connectivity everywhere, complementary to other technologies (fibre and 5G). “It would also project Europe into the quantum encryption area, certainly the most important technological breakthrough to come”, added Breton. 

Developing space traffic management is also an ambition defended by the Commission. “Thanks to the Space Surveillance and Tracking framework, which protects already 148 European satellites from collision, we have strong building blocks to be ambitious”, said Breton. 

The recording of the 4 sessions which composed the PSCE Online Conference on 19-20 January 2021 are now openly available. For the details of each sessions' content or to download the conference presentations, please visit this page.

Cybersecurity & Resilience

Artificial Intelligence for PPDR

Climate Emergency

Space Applications for PPDR

The European Commission's humanitarian aid office — DG ECHO — published the 2020 edition of the report “Overview of Natural and Man-made Disaster Risks the European Union May Face“. The publication presents the latest available evidence on disaster risks, such as floods, wildfires or diseases, that threaten the EU, drawing on the national risk assessments developed by the EU Member States and on the Commission’s cross-sectoral policy and scientific work.  

During our recent PSCE Conference, we welcomed a speaker from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), who made a presentation of the World Disasters Report 2020 comparing it to the Commission’s own report. The IFRC’s speaker agreed that the EU’s work, alike to that of the IFRC, presents a guiding tool for first responders, civil protection authorities and society as a whole. 

Recently, the Commission launched a knowledge centre to reverse biodiversity loss and protect Europe’s ecosystems — the Knowledge Centre for Earth Observation. This initiative, in line with the European Green Deal, will monitor through satellite imagery the Earth’s atmosphere and it will also help to assess potential natural disasters in the EU territory. 

As the threats posed by natural disasters, such as floods and wildfires, are becoming increasing realities, PSCE welcomes the work developed by the European Commission and the IFRC in ensuring preparedness and timely response during critical situations.