EXPLORE INSIDE LOOK
EDITORIAL
OPEN CALL RESULTS
RDI DAYS
PROOF OF CONCEPT
JOINT EVENTS
MEDEA EVENTS
POLICY BRIEFS
A STEP FORWARD
CONTACT
EDITORIAL

MEDEA:

A Year of Success and Innovation for Enhanced Security in the Mediterranean and Black Sea Region

A Year of Success and Innovation for Enhanced Security in the Mediterranean and Black Sea Region

The MEDEA project is a network of practitioners and other security-related actors that aims to enhance security in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region. The project has four thematic communities of practitioners (TCPs) that focus on different security challenges, and in the past year involved industry and solution providers that offered innovative technologies and ideas.

This last year of the project has been marked by several achievements and events, such as:

  • The Open Call for Ideas and Solutions, where industry and solution providers proposed innovative solutions that could address the capability gaps identified by the TCPs.
  • The Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) days, where industry and solution providers presented their products and services to the practitioners and received their feedback and suggestions, fostering collaboration and innovation.
  • The most suitable ones were awarded prizes, as well as vouchers to participate in the Proof-of-Concept Demonstrations in Greece and France, where they showcased their technologies and engaged in fruitful dialogue with the attendees.
  • The joint events and initiatives with other EU-funded projects and networks, such as DAREnet, IFAFRI, CERIS, and others, where the project enhanced the synergies and complementarities between the different projects and networks, and disseminated and exploited its results and outcomes.
  • The Social Impact Survey, where the project is reporting on the stakeholders’ opinions on the social impact of the project relevant to all TCPs, so as to improve knowledge, skills, collaboration, innovation, and policy-making.
  • The Policy Briefs, where recommendations and guidance are provided for policy makers, practitioners, industry, and other stakeholders on how to address the security challenges and opportunities in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region.

MEDEA has thus achieved its objectives and delivered its expected results, contributing to the enhancement of the security domain in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region, and to the improvement of resilience for societies in the EU at large. It has also created a lasting network of practitioners and other stakeholders, as well as a strong link between the demand and the supply side of innovation, fostering further collaboration and bridging capability gaps with solutions. However, all achievements aside, MEDEA also created a family among the partners and countries of the consortium, with common values and vision for the future.

OPEN CALL RESULTS

Open Call Results

The MEDEA project launched an Open Call for Ideas and Solutions to invite industry and solution providers to propose innovative solutions that could address the capability gaps that have been identified by the project’s Thematic Communities of Practitioners (TCPs).

The Open Call covered four (4) topics:

  • Migration management (TCP1)
  • Border Management (TCP2)
  • Drug Smuggling & Online Radicalisation (TCP3)
  • Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires & Flash Floods (TCP4)

The ideas and solutions received were evaluated by the project’s practitioners on the grounds of several criteria, namely relevance, feasibility, innovation, impact, and sustainability. The most suitable ones were awarded prizes and vouchers so that they could participate in the Proof-of-Concept Demonstrations that took place in Greece (Alexandroupolis, October 2022) and France (Nimes, November 2022), where they showcased their respective products.

The awarded organisations were:

CYACOMB, Space Hellas S.A. (WEB-IQ), T3K-Forensics GmbH, ADDITESS Advanced Integrated Technology Solutions, VOST PT, SIGNALERT SARL, Infalia, STME FIRE, GOLDEN RATIO Consulting

The OPEN CALL was thus a great opportunity for solution providers to contribute to the MEDEA project and to enhance security in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region. Notwithstanding, it helped build communication between practitioners and industry, with the hopes that their interaction would bridge expectations and outputs in the changing security landscape.

RDI DAYS FOR TCP 3

RDI Days for TCP3

In the aftermath of a productive sequence of Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) days dedicated to the exploration of MEDEA’s Thematic Communities of Practitioners (TCPs) with a focus on Managing migration flows and asylum seekers (TCP1), Border Management (TCP2), and WUI Fires & Flash Floods (TCP4), the MEDEA Consortium strategically concluded this series in June 2022. The final RDI day was specifically organized to delve into the thematic area of “Fight Against Cross-Border Crime and Terrorism” (TCP3).

During the event, five companies actively participated, each delivering presentations that unveiled potential solutions designed to aid both Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and practitioners in their ongoing efforts to counteract cross-border crime.

The event resulted in the convergence between industry innovation and Law Enforcement Agency (LEAs) and practitioners needs, in the very challenging domain of cross-border crime and terrorism.

MEDEA PROOF-OF-CONCEPT DEMONSTRATIONS

MEDEA Proof-of-Concept Demonstrations

The MEDEA project, after concluding the Open Call, RDI Days and the evaluation of the submissions regarding the Open Call for Solutions and the Open Call for ideas fulfilled its next milestone which was the organisation of the two Proof-of-Concept (PoC) demonstrations that took place in Alexandroupolis, Greece in October 2022, and  Nimes, France in November 2022.

Greece PoC Demonstration

The first Solutions Demonstration event in Greece included solutions for the thematic areas of ‘’The Management of Migration Flows and Asylum Seekers (TCP1)’’, Border management (TCP2), and ‘’Fight Against Cross-border Crime and Terrorism (TCP3)’’. Among other attendees, more than 40 practitioners from around Europe (France, Spain, Greece, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia, and Portugal) watched the solutions demonstrations  and gave their feedback, engaging in an open dialogue with Industry providers.

READ MORE HERE
France PoC Demonstration

The Second Solutions Demonstration event that took place in France included solutions on “Natural Hazards and Technological Accidents (TCP4)”. It focused on wildland urban interface (WUI) fires and Flash Floods. More than fifty (50) participants attended the workshop, among whom, a significant number of local practitioners such as fire fighters, engaged in the discussions to raise concerns, exchange ideas, and elaborate on their everyday operational needs.

READ MORE HERE
JOINT EVENTS

Joint Events

From Early Warning to Action- Joint Network Event

The event “From Early Warning to Action” took place from November 30 to December 02 in Aschheim, Germany, and was jointly organised by the EU-funded practitioners’ Network projects DAREnet (Danube River Region Resilience Exchange Network) and MEDEA (The Mediterranean & Black Sea Security Practitioners’ Network), in collaboration with IFAFRI (The International Forum to Advance First Responder Innovation).

First responders, technology providers, academics, and policy makers came together in person and virtually to discuss about all aspects of Early Warning.  Thereby, the conference focused on MEDEA’s 3rd main objective, namely to “Build a scenario driven technology roadmap” and on several capability gaps in the work package “Natural hazards and technological accidents”.

READ MORE HERE
CERIS SSRI Networks of Practitioners Workshop

DG HOME and the MEDEA project co-organised the “CERIS SSRI Networks of Practitioners: Exploitation of outcomes, capability requirements and future perspectives” conference which took place physically in Brussels, Belgium on 27 April 2023.  The conference comprised of three separate panels of discussions bringing together Networks of Practitioners (NoPs) who shared their experiences and knowledge for optimising the practitioners’ work.

The audience (95 attendees) consisted of representatives from all the NoPs projects, R&D actors from Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Academia, as well as Security Research Policymakers.

READ MORE HERE
MEDEA EVENTS

MEDEA Events

EU Borders Security: Acting ahead across Research, Practice and Policy

The ambition of this two-day conference during the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union was to highlight some key aspects of the challenges that European Union faces to ensure security and safety across its internal and external borders, take stock of what has been achieved so far, and sketch out the way ahead. The event took place in Madrid on the 27th and the 28th of September 2023 at the premises of ISDEFE.

READ MORE HERE
Current And Foreseen Security Operations: Challenges and Capability Gaps

The final event of the Mediterranean practitioners’ network capacity building for effective response to emerging security challenges (MEDEA ), took place in Athens, Greece on the 30th and 31st of October, 2023. The two-day event was supported by the IFAFRI forum and focused during the first day on the project’s final results and outcomes.  During the second day, a marketplace was set up showcasing technological solutions ready to use in different security operations.

READ MORE HERE
MEDEA POLICY BRIEFS

MEDEA POLICY BRIEFS

As a result of the significant work effort that has been delivered during the life cycle of MEDEA, the consortium decided to conduct and release a number of Policy Briefs as listed below:

1 - Engaging Security Practitioners In Foresight & Scenario-Planning For Capability Roadmaps

The value-added of engaging security practitioners, along with experts and technology developers, in foresight exercises, is high, as they can contribute detailed insights about prospective functional needs in the field.

READ MORE HERE
2 - Interoperability: Key To Managing Migratory Movements And Security In EU

Information exchange between immigration and asylum authorities, LEAs, customs and border services from EU Member States (MS) and third countries is of crucial importance for the management of migratory movements and asylum, and also border management and surveillance in Europe.

READ MORE HERE
3 - Combatting New Trends In Drug Trafficking

The current policy brief focuses on the challenges faced by Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in their operations against drug trafficking and moves to a list of recommendations about the intelligence exchange between EU Member States (MSs), lawful interception of communications, and cryptocurrencies.

READ MORE HERE
4 - Upstream, Horizontal, and Downstream Policy Recommendations

The current policy brief focuses on a number of key areas for policy intervention ranging from overarching national and EU-wide security policies and security research policy (Upstream), to the multinational, multi-sectoral, and cross-disciplinary ecosystem of security research (Horizontal), and not least to the engagement with and adoption by public and private emergency responders and crisis managers on the ground (Downstream). The brief highlights actionable recommendations to either support better and wider implementation of identified “good practices”, or help “change the game” towards practices which are “fitter-for-purpose”.

READ MORE HERE
A STEP FORWARD

A STEP FORWARD

Social Impact Survey Results

MEDEA conducted a Social Impact Survey in the form of four questionnaires, each one per Thematic Community of Practitioners. The aim was to report the stakeholders’ opinions on the Social Impact of the project relevant to all TCPs, i.e., i) Migration management ii) Border management iii) Fight against Cross-Border Crime and Terrorism, and iv) Natural hazards and technological accidents.

The assessment of the questionnaires’ answers will be presented in a report. The findings of this targeted series of surveys will be shared via the digital channels of the project. Thus, stay tuned with the project’s social media. 

The Mediterranean Security Research And Innovation Agenda (MSRIA)

The Mediterranean Security Research and Innovation Agenda is a forward-looking strategy to jointly tackle emerging security challenges in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region. It is based on the cooperation and consultation of a network of practitioners and other security-related actors, such as security mandated organisations, associated partners, policy makers, and users of security solutions. The MSRIA aims to use research, development, and innovation as the facilitator to enhance the resilience of the societies in the region, by addressing common security and societal challenges, providing a link between practitioners and policy makers, developing joint scenarios accounting for emerging threats and future horizons, interacting with academia and industry to bridge demand and supply of innovative solutions, and boosting regional and EU competitiveness. To that end, the consortium is preparing an e-book, co-authored by MEDEA partners, to present the findings of the project along with pertinent recommendations. The book will be publicly available, so stay tuned with the project’s social media channels for more!

MEDEA & DIREKTION projects: A great sustainability milestone

MEDEA project is thrilled to announce that a number of its results, findings, outcomes and achievements will be utilized as background information in the DIREKTION project which is the Disaster Resilience Knowledge Network, promoting innovation, technology uptake and multi-stakeholder cooperation( HORIZON-CL3-2022-SSRI-01-02).

MEDEA counts 386 stakeholders involved in its broad network, and more specifically 85 of them are engaged in Management of Disasters. In this context, a number of the Key Exploitable Results of the MEDEA project’s legacy will be used by the project DIREKTION.

  • THOR (Technology Human Organizational Regulatory) Methodology: The Provision of Methodology on practitioners’ preparedness for current, emerging, and future threats on identifying capabilities gaps based on these four dimensions.
  • Capability Gaps: Practitioners’ recommendations for European security technology investments
  • Stakeholders & Networking: Professional networking services for security practitioners and their organizations
  • Concepts & Solutions and Assessment: A methodology to evaluate innovation concepts and ideas (TRL3-TRL6) and security solutions (TRL7-TRL9)
  • Mediterranean Security Research and Innovation Agenda (MSRIA)
  • Open calls materials

Contact us for more information on MEDEA’s public results and future collaboration

Although the MEDEA project has completed its work progress, if you wish to find out more on the achievements of the project or to seek out further collaboration with the MEDEA consortium, please follow the official website/social media below or contact us at medea[at]medea-project.eu

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MEDEA is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 – Research and Innovation Framework Programme, under grant agreement no 787111