DRiving InnoVation in crisis management for European Resilience (DRIVER+)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Security
Destination: Restoring security and safety in case of crisis
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Spain,Sweden,France,Netherlands,France,France,Germany,Norway,Germany,Denmark,United Kingdom,Israel,Netherlands,Germany,Sweden,Netherlands,Portugal,Austria,Ireland,Poland,Belgium,European organisations area,Germany,Spain,Bulgaria,Germany,Netherlands,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-SEC-2013-1, 2013)
Start date: 2014-05-01
End date: 2020-04-30
Duration (months): 72.0
Total project cost (EUR): 43240053.2
EU funding (EUR): 33468209.0
Participants: 42
Project status: CLOSED

DRIVER+ starts from the experience that neither successful R&D nor strong end-user demand always lead to innovation in the Crisis Management (CM) domain. This is a problem since as societies become more complex, increasing scope and unpredictability of potential crises and faster dynamics of major incidents put increasingly stringent demands on CM. European CM capabilities already constitute a mature System of Systems; hence wholesale redesign would often be too costly and might critically destabilise existing CM capabilities. Therefore DRIVER+ focuses on augmenting rather than replacing existing capabilities. DRIVER+ has three main objectives: 1) Develop a pan-European Test-bed for crisis management capability development; 2) Develop a well-balanced comprehensive portfolio of crisis management solutions, and 3) Facilitate a shared understanding of crisis management across Europe. The DRIVER+ Test-bed will provide the technological infrastructure, the necessary supporting methodology and adequate support tools. The Portfolio of Solutions (PoS) is a database driven web site that documents all the available DRIVER+ solutions. The PoS includes information on the experiences with a solution (i.e. results and outcomes of trials), the needs it addresses, the type of practitioner organisations that have used it, the regulatory conditions that apply, societal impact consideration, a glossary, and the design of the trials. Initially, the PoS will contain information about the solutions that are already available within the consortium; the PoS will be extended with third-party solutions when required by the trials, and ultimately opened up for any external organisation to share data and experiences on solutions. A series of trials will be conducted during which solutions will be operationalised and tested. All results of the trials will be stored and made available in the PoS. Several I4CM events will be organized as well as a final conference. In addition to this, a firm link is established and will be maintained with DG HOME’s “Community of Users on Secure, Safe and Resilient Societies” and other European stakeholder groups and relevant initiatives, for instance on standardization. To maximise impact beyond the scope of the project and of the DRIVER+ consortium it is necessary to develop the sustainability of the European Test-bed, the exploitation of the DRIVER Portfolio of Solutions and to promote a European CM community, which shares a common CM understanding and is increasingly willing to share capabilities and collaborate in CM innovation. Together this will boost Europe’s ability to continue adapting to new threats and emerging needs, laying the basis for a continuously resilient EU and providing a mechanism to drive innovation in European CM by bridging the gap from practitioners need and R&D to the market.

Keywords: crisis management capabilities,innovation,resilience,operationalization,legacy,sustainability,experimentation,portfolio,test-bed