STEPWISE: simulation, training and evaluation for the protection of crowded public spaces
The project is in response to various terrorist attacks perpetrated in Europe and the EU action plan on the protection of public spaces which followed in October 2017. It will help Member States better protect public spaces, reduce vulnerabilities and prevent future attacks especially on soft targets.
The project aims to support the improvement of public spaces, notably those open to the general public (from simple events in public spaces to stadium events but also shopping centres, museums, etc.).
Starting from the observation that it was impossible to carry out physical security audits on all potential targets / soft targets (insufficient human resources and time), the project coordinator, DIGINEXT, developed the idea of working on augmented reality mock-ups to assess risks and scenarios/potential threats. This would avoid taking over public spaces and upsetting people.
Project Aims
STEPWISE will deliver an innovative product to support cooperation, coordination and cross-sectoral preparation of the police and their partners (public and private) involved in the design and protection of public spaces. The STEPWISE platform hopes to enable the rapid creation of virtual reality mock-ups of real-world spaces and buildings where security and crisis plans can be devised and assessed against a wide variety of threat scenarios.
STEPWISE will support:
- The creation of digital mock-ups of places and buildings
- The security design analysis
- The vulnerability risk analysis of public spaces
- The sharing of knowledge and information documents on the protection of public spaces
Impact
The project brings together eight European partners: 3 police forces, several centres of research and expertise, and a manufacturer. The added value of participating in the project will be the ability to make prototypes of soft targets using 3D mock-ups while also building collaboration between actors responsible for protecting public spaces.
STEPWISE will therefore strengthen collaboration between different sectors and contribute to improving the level of preparedness for the prevention of attacks and protection of European Union Member States’ public spaces.
Role of the French Ministry of the Interior
The French Ministry of the Interior is one of the consortium partners and represented by the National Police College (ENSP – Ecole Nationale supérieure de Police). As a partner ENSP will identify the most relevant services to participate in the project, give feedback on the proposed solution and implement pilot schemes.
CIVIPOL is tasked with the project’s financial and administrative management on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior.
The project is financed by the European Union’s Internal Security Fund.
drapeau de l'Union Européenne
The project in figures
€1.8m
Total budget for the project
2
Beneficiaries: police, public space managers
8
Partners
Chronology
The project began in November 2018 for a duration of two years. It is split into two stages (14 months and 10 months) made up of three phases: firstly designing the employment concept (ConOps) and the specifications for the system requirements; secondly the implementation and integration of the platform; and finally, the training phase, implementation of pilot tests and assessment.
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November 2018
Start of the project
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November 2020
Fin du projet
Logo du projet
About the project
Person in charge of steering
JUDICE Joana
Project status
Finished
Funding type
European Union
Contract type