I527-290 ESRIF Final Report (WEB).indd - European Commission

Nonetheless, to protect information housed in heterogeneous, decentralised and interconnected networks new
techniques as well as regulatory and organisational solutions are needed to guarantee their safe and secure use. Privacy
and data protection capabilities are essential to ensure that data fusion and analysis on this scale does not infringe upon
personal liberties.
The power of information is increased by providing widespread access to data, conducted through advanced integrated
communication networks. Though, the problem is not a lack of information but fi nding what is needed and when it is
needed to increase proper situation awareness.
As a consequence, information management systems, including decision support systems, are crucial to support
operational end-users and decision-makers in their work to gain situation awareness which requires also investment on
interoperable and network command and control capabilities. This includes improved surveillance (ISR) capabilities with
respect to coverage, quality and the fusion of real-time sensor data (space, air, land, sea) as well as intelligence and open source
material in order to establish a common recognised operational picture. The role of space is vital in this scenario through GMES
(Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) and its fi rst wave of services, also interacting with other European space
programmes and deployed space based capabilities.
Command and control capabilities for situation awareness require a large improvement in existing centres including the
development of domain and scenario specifi c models to be eff ectively used for early warning, situation and threat assessments.
These capabilities must be supported by robust, secure and interoperable communication systems linked to the signifi cantly
improved protection of supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA). Network centric communication
supported by satellite is also a key capability to properly support most of the communication needs in terms of secured
bandwidth and fl exible access.
While using the necessary infrastructures, on the operational level the capability to enhance collaboration between individuals
and organisations is fundamental to plan complex endeavours by de-confl icting, coordinating, collaborating and planning (or
simulating) operations. This requires more than ever public-private partnerships and the introduction of new consistent and
complementary knowledge through civil governmental and military cooperation.
Finally, achievement of truly interoperable systems and integration of applications at national and supranational level is a key
requirement to make eff ective data collection, harmonised requirements and validity of evidence of digital forensic capabilities,
to track and trace criminal actions in information networks.
Discussion with the Member States is required to support a regulated evolution towards a full deployment of
interoperable systems.
7.2 Situation Awareness
Some of the challenges Europe and the entire world are facing in addressing situation awareness, particularly in the fi elds
of emergency response and crisis management include the ability for making adaptive decisions in situations involving
uncertainty, based on the knowledge of actual and near-term events within a specifi c environment and context.
To help agents achieve situation awareness it is necessary to develop information fusion reasoning and knowledge-gathering
processes tailored to the specifi c application domain. The behaviour of the agents as well as what information they need will
diff er depending on their goals. In the security context it is fundamental to reach a high level of perception of the environment
in order to prevent problems in the assessment and cognitive processes.
Disregarding the specificity of the risks and challenges per domains, be it for the security of citizens, critical
infrastructures, border control or crises management, common requirements, capabilities, systems and technologies
can be identified.
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