Enhanced situational awareness and preparedness of first responders and improved capacities to minimise time-to-react in urban areas in the case of CBRN-E-related events

Closed

Programme Category

EU Competitive Programmes

Programme Name

Horizon Europe (2021-2027)

Programme Description

Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.

Programme Details

Identifier Code

HORIZON-CL3-2022-DRS-01-08

Call

Enhanced situational awareness and preparedness of first responders and improved capacities to minimise time-to-react in urban areas in the case of CBRN-E-related events

Summary

Addressing first responders’ needs requires innovative actions resulting in technological, institutional and capacity-building solutions that are tailored to the risks, affordable, accepted by citizens, and customised and implemented for the (cross-sectoral) needs of practitioners. Innovative solutions are required to enable first responders to get a faster overview of any disaster situation based on the knowledge of past events and prevention actions.

Detailed Call Description

Complementing this, novel technologies and tools are necessary to enhance situational awareness in the case of disaster-prone events or health-related crises, especially in the case of cross-border situations, in order for first responders to be better prepared in emergency operations. Innovative technologies are required for first responders to rapidly identify hazardous agents and contaminants such as CBRN-E substances in case of an accident, outbreak/pandemics or terrorist attack and act more efficiently and rapidly regarding communication. This requires novel rapid and accurate detection of substances (possibly coupled with unmanned vehicles or drones) and on-line communication systems to support first responders’ operations and to provide the ability to conduct on-scene operations remotely without endangering them.

Needs cover a broad range of technologies on top of existing CBRN-E detectors, e.g. samplers, separation systems, dilution or sample pre-concentrators etc., multiplying their capabilities. Advancements should take into consideration power consumption of front-end technology, as well as, transportability, on-line, dynamic sampling, automation, smart samplers, sample preparation, integration with detectors, standardisation. A focus should be made on experimental or commercial systems that are not optimised in terms of online, continuous measurements, power consumption and hyphenation. Other areas of research closely depending upon enhanced situational awareness and preparedness concern decisions related to the protection of first responders (e.g. advanced protective gear and smart wearable equipment), in particular in case of CBRN-related events (infectious diseases, accidental or linked to terrorism), and ways to minimise their time-to-react in urban areas or to conduct on-scene operations remotely without endangering responders (e.g. ways through traffic, UAVs etc.).

In order to achieve the expected outcomes, international cooperation is encouraged, in particular with Japan in the framework of the EU-Japan collaboration.

Where possible and relevant, synergy-building and clustering initiatives with successful proposals in the same area should be considered, including the organisation of international conferences in close coordination with the Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (CERIS) activities and/or other international events.

Call Total Budget

€11,00 million

Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan

70%

Expected EU contribution:  €6 million

Thematic Categories

  • Research, Technological Development and Innovation

Eligibility for Participation

  • Central Government
  • Local Authorities
  • Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
  • State-owned Enterprises

Eligibility For Participation Notes

This topic requires the active involvement, as beneficiaries, of at least 3 first responders’ organisations or agencies, from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated countries.

Call Opening Date

30/06/2022

Call Closing Date

23/11/2022

National Contact Point(s)

Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia
P.O.Box 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Phone Number: +357 22205000
Email Address: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/

Contact Persons:
Dr. Ioannis Theodorou
Scientific Officer
Contact Phone: +357 22 20 50 38
Contact Email: itheodorou@research.org.cy 

Christakis Theocharous
Scientific Officer A’
Contact Phone: +357 22 20 50 29
Contact Email: ctheocharous@research.org.cy

EU Contact Point

European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation

https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/research-and-innovation_en#contact