Border Surveillance (TCP 2) Open Call

Status: Open Closed
Scope

MEDEA’s Thematic Community of Practitioners for the management of migration and asylum seeker flows (TCP1) invites solution providers, researchers, academics, policy makers and of course experienced practitioners in this field to jointly explore proposals that will advance existing practitioner’s capabilities in the following areas:

    1. Absence of security solution standardisation and certification 2.CGF.11
    2. Lack of a multi-sectoral ecosystem for security solutions 2.CGF.12
    3.  Lack in support of legacy / deployed solutions 2.CGF.13
    4.  Lack of systematic identification and removal of illegal context on the internet 2.CGF.14
    5.  Insufficient safeguards of intelligence about practitioners’ assets and resources 2.CGF.15
    6.  Underutilised lessons learned culture 2.CGF.16
    7.  Insufficient technology adoption mechanisms 2.CGF.17
    8. Lack of early detection in difficult/challenging landscapes / weather conditions 2.CGF.18&19
    9. Lack of a Common Prefrontier Intelligence picture 2.CGF.20
    10. Lack of border crossing preventive mechanisms 2.CGF.21-23
    11. Lack in special forces (rapid deployment teams) 2.CGF.24
    12. Gaps in ΕΟ Service timeliness 2.CGF.25-28
    13. Insufficient ΕΟ Service quality 2.CGF.29-33
    14. Lack in ΕΟ Service awareness, skills, and acceptance 2.CGF.34-36

Solution providers / industry will have a unique opportunity to engage in a constructive dialogue with first line practitioners working in migration and asylum from all over Europe and understand their operational needs. Researchers and academia will be offered opportunities to understand the root cause of technology related shortcomings, while policy makers will debate with practitioners the challenges from existing regulatory frameworks. Further to the above, the responders of the call will be offered incentives and awards.

The following Capability gaps although were first reported in TCP2, the practitioners from both TCP1 and TCP2 decided that they should be analysed in TCP1. As such the following gaps fall under the TCP1 open call “D2.4 Open call to TCP1 stakeholders” scope.

  1. Absence of an independent authority to monitor NGO operations. 1.CGF.1
  2. Need for a common European migration and asylum policy and need to amend and reinforce the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), so that practitioners’ requirements and needs are represented within the CEAS network 1.CGF.2&6
  3. Insufficient means and lack of coordination for effective Search and Rescue (SaR) Operations 1.CGF.3&4
  4. No adequate training is provided to practitioners regarding current legislation with respect to migrant smuggling and the protection of unaccompanied minors. 1.CGF.5
  5. Lack of effective and enhanced cooperation among EU Member States, as well as between Member States and third countries – Need for an advanced return process. 1.CGF.7
  6. Information databases / repositories from various practitioners at National and European level are not interconnected. 1.CGF.8
  7. Lack of a common risk analysis process. 1.CGF.9
  8. Existing technological tools used by practitioners are outdated 1.CGF.10
  9. Health risks related to the daily operations of practitioners. 1.CGF.11
Objectives

TCP2 security practitioners are looking for innovation approaches to eliminate / restrict / limit the above-mentioned capability gaps. Potential advancement and innovative solutions in the following areas are of interest to them:

  • A certification process for security solutions.
  • Language translation tools.
  • Longer range detection systems and better signal processing to tackle false positive alarms.
  • Improved identification tools to scan fraudulent documents.
  • Surveillance cameras that are smart, more capable, and energy efficient.
  • Integrated solutions to deliver images from satellites in real-time.
  • Standardisation and automation of IMINT extraction (e.g., AI feature detection capabilities).
  • Enhancement of spatial resolution of satellite optical cameras and the area covered per observation.
  • More persistent systems to enable longer endurance over border areas.
  • Night observation capabilities from space.
Topics to be discussed

Specifically, the TCP2 MEDEA Network of Practitioners would like to explore and discuss the following technology-oriented topics:

  • The various types of technologies required for the different types of terrains, weather conditions, and distances in the borderline of the M&BS Region
  • Resolving problems arising from the difficulties to provide electrical power for installing surveillance systems or detection sensors and telecommunication infrastructure in specific types of terrains.
  • Available and future technologies and research for better and faster detection, along with improved prevention means to avoid illegal crossings and facilitate early detection.
  • The use (and progress, as well as future trends) of the latest available technology for border management such as drones that follow objectives or cameras that function under challenging weather conditions.
  • Present innovation to eliminate/restrict/limit capability gaps and to assist in amplifying the scope and capacities of current solutions.
  • The scope and possibilities of custom-made capture technologies and utilising the proper equipment to scan different types of fields.

The optimal integration and technical configuration of various components, such as drones, multi-sensor cameras, data transfer and processing tools, software, etc.

RDI Day

After the Open Call to Academia and Industry, a Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) Day will be organised. Responders to the open call (security stakeholders, industries, academia, research organisations and SMEs) will be able to present pertinent solutions to MEDEA members in high level of operational details.

Incentives

MEDEA will support a number of solution providers that will be invited for the “hands-on demos” with a voucher funding scheme to cover travelling and accommodation expenses, transportation of equipment and some consumable costs. A total amount of 15.000 euros is allocated for the TCP2 demonstration event (organised by practitioners), aiming to assist SMEs, Academia, and Research Projects to participate.

Awards

There will also be a budget of 15.000 Euros so as to award challenge prizes for innovative solutions that fulfil (or will fulfil) the identified TCP capability gaps. The prize awards will be defined based on the number of the capability gaps, their priority, and the urgency to fulfil said gaps (time horizon). The means to address these capability gaps will not be prescribed, leaving contestants total freedom to come up with the most promising and effective solutions. The MEDEA prize award will aim to attract a wider range of innovators, provide opportunities to innovators to forge new partnerships, promote new products and services and spur interest in the problem areas defined by the practitioners.

Click here to submit your Application.

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