4Th Issue May 2021 in This Issue 4Th Issue May 2021

4TH ISSUE MAY 2021 IN THIS ISSUE 4TH ISSUE MAY 2021

03 PROGRESS OVER THE PAST 6 MONTHS 04 THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF ACTIVITY 06 THE ITALIAN PILOT OF FASTER PROJECT; MONCALIERI (TURIN) 10 THE FINNISH PILOT OF FASTER PROJECT; KAJAANI (KAINUU) 12 JOINT ACTIVITY WITH OTHER EU H2020 PROJECTS 14 THE FASTER PROJECT PATH TO SUSTAINABILITY PROGRESS OVER THE PAST 6 MONTHS

n the last six months a lot of re- demonstrations to be held in the Isults have been achieved and all final months of the project, at the technical tools have been tested in beginning of next year. FASTER has three trial demonstrations (Spain, Italy and Finland). Following these Furthermore, FASTER partners completed the demonstrations, an online debrie- have presented information in 2nd year of its fing meeting was held for each several national and international of the demos with the first re- events with the aim of spreading lifecycle. sponders involved. The purpose news on FASTER and its develop- of these meetings was to collect ments. More info about the events their comments and suggestions are on the FASTER website in the to fine- tune FASTER technolo- Conferences section. gies making them compatible with the existing procedures. Now the technical teams are working to update the tools that will be tested in the 2nd and final round of

Italian pilot control room in Turin, Piedmont; 27th of January 2021

FASTER NEWSLETTER 3 THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF ACTIVITY

FASTER is a 3-year H2020 project that aims to address the challenges associated with the protection of First Responders (FRs) in hazar- dous environments, while at the same time enhancing their capabilities in terms of situational aware- ness and communication. Having completed its second year and, despite the significant challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, FASTER has managed to achieve its milestones according to its original plan.

At this stage, a first integrated version of the FASTER tools has been produced and demonstrated in 4 pilot activities, testing FASTER’s tools in realistically simulated conditions with the participation of front-line FRs. Scenarios were built upon the mission to highlight the applicability and versatility of the FASTER tools in a variety of diverse settings. An overview is shared below:

• Pilot 1 involved an earthqua- ke of 7.3 degrees on the Richter scale, affecting a populated area in Madrid, Spain, and was carried out in November 2020.

• Pilot 2 consisted of a flooding scenario based on a similar inci- dent that occurred in November 2016 in the Municipality of Mon- calieri, Italy. The pilot took place in January 2021.

• Pilot 3 followed a terrorism scenario inside of a school building. This pilot was held in Kajaani, Fin- land in March 2021.

• Training was a demonstration of FASTER tools in a hostile environment, without power or communication infrastructure, close to Athens, Greece. The event took place in October 2020. Image from the Spanish pilot, December 2020 4 4TH ISSUE MAY 2021 The 6th FASTER General Assem- evaluation. The project partners bly, held on 30-31 March 2021, have updated the user require- marked a milestone in the FASTER ments, the specifications, and the project pathway. Having comple- architecture of the FASTER tools ted the first round of piloting, all to adhere to the needs of First Re- project partners joined in a fruitful sponders. The coming months will and productive discussion. Tech- see the continuous update of the nical partners shared information tools and the realization of a pilo- and when possible performed ting campaign designed, hosted, live demos of their tools, and end and executed by the project’s end users gave feedback, sharing ide- users, where new use cases will as about possible use cases for the be developed and FASTER tools tools and identifying any new end will be tested and evaluated. The user requirements. Technical part- pilots will be used as a vehicle to ners remain in close and continuo- boost the outreach of the project, us collaboration with end users to empowering the communication achieve a comprehensive analysis and dissemination activities, and of what the latter expect that the creating a clear exploitation path FASTER tools will deliver. The goal for the developed technologies. is to create tools that users wish to adopt and use in their response operations.

The General Assembly has also paved the way for the last year of the project. A training and demonstration campaign in multiple locations in Europe and Ja- pan has been developed, going beyond the original planning of the project. Additional piloting events are being planned in France, Por- tugal, Poland, Greece, Spain, Italy, Finland, and Japan. This piloting campaign, with the participation and guidance of technical partners, physical or remote, will ma- ximize the opportunity of First Re- sponders from diverse sectors to have a hands-on experience with the tools and provide feedback to fine-tune them. The FASTER consortium plans to open up the second round of piloting activities, offering to First Responders beyond the consortium to participate and evaluate the project tools, creating clustering, synergy, and exploitation opportunities.

Summing up, FASTER has suc- cessfully closed its first round of development, demonstration, and Image from the Finnish pilot, March 2021 FASTER NEWSLETTER 5 THE ITALIAN PILOT OF FASTER PROJECT MONCALIERI (TURIN) FASTER’s second trial demon- the Environment for the weather sion assignment/status/details stration was held in Moncalieri forecast, local Municipality of and location information to be (Turin), Italy on January 27, 2021. Moncalieri, Red Cross for rescue exchanged from the command In the two months leading up to operations, Regional Volunteers center and responders in the the event, local organizers from Organizations for the logistics field. Real time information from the Piemonte Region civil pro- and rescue operation support, the field is very useful in the tection were busy setting up, te- Forest Fires Volunteers Regional command center to follow an sting and training on the FASTER Corp to support logistics opera- unfolding emergency situation tools, finalizing the flooding sce- tion. and make response-related de- nario to incorporate the tools, cisions. and organizing and training other It’s to be underlined that during local participating stakeholders. the months leading up to the pi- Using the tool, responders can The result was an intense and lot date the pilot preparation took receive instructions from leaders successful pilot day, demon- place with a deep involvement of in the command room, and send strating and evaluating FASTER all organizations helping the pilot back status updates, location in- tools and proving their added to be carried out, with setting up formation, pictures, videos, and value to the disaster response of training sessions on the tools voice messages to share impor- activities of the regional civil pro- to be tested during the pilot. tant updates from the field. tection agencies. A strong collaboration between They do so using a chatbot In a narrow strip of land near the Piemonte civil protection au- (smartphone) or a smartwatch. the Chisola River in the south of thorities and the FASTER techni- The wearable watches incorpo- Moncalieri (Turin), where a se- cal partners in charge of deve- rate gesture control, meaning vere flooding event took place loping the tools was key to the that with simple wrist movemen- in 2016, FASTER technologies success in planning the event, ts it is possible to send opera- and tools were used in the re- sharing tools by post or remotely tor position, send reports and sponse phases: pre-alarm con- (software downloads), setting up change the current status of the ditions (pre-event preparations), the tools with remote help from operator so if he/she is in activity alarm conditions (rescue opera- technical partners, remote trai- or if he/she has terminated his/ tions), residual critical conditions ning and on pilot day, remote te- her task. (post-event phase). chnical support. Feedback on the MMT was po- Three sites were used simulta- Many tools were tested in the sitive, and participants in the neously for this demonstration: Italian pilot: the Mission Mana- FASTER demonstration could the Piedmont Region command gement tool (MMT), including the assess how easy it was to com- center, and two field locations, two interfaces - the Chatbot and municate with the control room the Chisola river embankment smartwatch -the common ope- and how quickly the information and the New Tetti Piatti village. rational picture (COP) tools, the was delivered. The pilot developed from 9 a.m. 2D mapping tool, drones, the lat- until around 3 p.m., while the ori- ter operated by local authorized G-COP, P-COP, drones, 2D ginal schedule was planned from operators National ‘Carabinieri’ mapping tool. 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.Despite CO- Association, FASTER’s Local VID restrictions 64 operators of Weather Station, Smart Textiles FASTER’s Common Operational the Regional System of Civil Pro- Framework, the ResCuE (RE- Picture (COP) is a map-based tection, 36 of which are associa- Silient CommUnications Equip- tool that integrates data from ted with volunteer organizations, ment) devices, the UAV Relay for other FASTER tools, allowing participated in the event, helping extended communication equip- users to visualize all response greatly to make this event a suc- ment. information in one place. This cess. offers a better understanding Stakeholder groups present in- MMT Chatbot & SmartWatch, of the emergency, ensures that cluded: Piedmont Region at Smart Textiles Framework. all relevant information reaches regional level response (opera- all relevant responders, and tions room), Piedmont Regio- The MMT allows information that they share an understan- nal Agency for the Protection of exchange, including live mis- ding about how the response is 6 4TH ISSUE MAY 2021 Interface of the smartwatch used for the tests in Moncalieri, Italy

Red Cross First responders receiving updatest through the chatbot FASTER NEWSLETTER 7 unfolding, supporting decision mental agency. location of the responders. making. Responders also used FASTER’s During the pilot, FASTER partners Particularly interesting during the RESCUE communication devices, held interviewers with first respon- Italian pilot was using the COP to which are meant to pass along der participants to get their fee- set up the drone flight, watching short text-based messages to dback on the tools. The video can the drone along its path in the responders (or from a response be seen here: COP, and receive the data and organization to the public) to de- visualize the mapping results on liver critical messages. They are https://vm-podcast.csi.it/mlab/ the COP as well. They are used to meant to be used when no other projects/video/Video_Progetto_ using drones to get an oversight communication means is possi- Faster/ of the area, but highly apprecia- ble: they are able to send pre-pro- ted being able to track the drone grammed messages without a A final demonstration will be held along the map, receive quick and network. Participants to the trial in Moncalieri, also following this good mapping results, and also demonstrations found the Re- flooding scenario, in the final mon- see other geo-localized informa- sCuE devices to be very easy and ths of the project, at the beginning tion coming from other FASTER intuitive to use. The fall of the cel- of 2022. With the COVID restri- tools (smart wearables, MMT). lular networks during an emergen- ctions lifted, this event will include cy in a localized area would pre- additional stakeholders, and add Weather station, ResCuE (RE- vent sending messages between two locations: Moncalieri’s Com- Silient CommUnications Equi- mobile devices, so ResCuE can fill mand Center and a field location pment) devices, UAV Relay for this critical need. at Water Ski Lake, where a simu- extended communication. lation of the flood will take place. FASTER also has a communica- The use of the FASTER local we- tion relay tool, possible to attach The FASTER project activities will ather station is highly valued in a to UAVs. This tool is used to ex- continue with the improvement flooding scenario when determi- tend the communication range, of the tested tools, in sight of the ning whether it is possible to safely making it possible to transmit in- next final phase of tests in the deploy UAVs to go out and moni- formation between the field and period November 2021-February tor the flooded areas. Responders command centers. It can be used 2022. found that the weather station in the absence of a 4G or 5G con- was easy to install and could be nection. made operational within just a few minutes. Thanks to the adoption All tested tools were acknowled- of standard protocols and easy in- ged by pilot participants as very tegration with communication sy- important to improve performan- stems, this station easily integra- ces and security during an emer- tes with real-time measurements gency. Suggestions have been gi- managed by the regional environ- ven to technical partners for some improvement to be made, which they will work to incorporate befo- re the final demonstrations of the FASTER tools.

The encouraging result of the exer- cise is the Regional Civil Protection System’s true interest in using FA- STER technologies during the management of civil protection events. In particular, the possibility of strengthening and improving the flow of communication between responders in the field and those in the command centers, allowing for real-time exchange of critical response information as well as Images from the camp and drone in information about the safety and Carabinieri’s Drone flying over the pilot Moncalieri pilot site site in Moncalieri, Italy 8 4TH ISSUE MAY 2021 Faster weather station and camp in the background, Moncalieri, Italy

FASTER NEWSLETTER 9 THE FINNISH PILOT OF FASTER PROJECT KAJAANI (KAINUU)

The first round of the Finnish pi- te and exchange data in the field, location to confirm whether there lots was completed on the 10th of send orders and call for the need were victims in closed/barricaded March 2021. The pilot took place in to evacuate wounded persons. rooms, waiting for help. Simulta- the Lehtikangas School, in the city The RESCUE box was used to neously, BUST sensors alert of a of Kajaani. The pilot comprised of communicate instructions and in- fire outbreak on the second floor, three indoor scenarios: explosion formation to the victims about in- in the faculty room. Fire fighters are in handicraft classroom, hostage coming aid. sent to assess the situation. They situation and fire outbreak. More use the MORSE device to con- than 40 first response operatives The gesture-based drone control firm the fire outbreak to the team participated, carrying out medical allowed the first responders to leader. MORSE allows responders aid tasks, fire suppression, bre- examine the building for visual da- out of each other’s line-of-sight to aching, shoring, evacuation, and mage, all while controlling the dro- communicate using predetermi- hostage crisis de-escalation. ne hands-free. ned gestures recognized by smar- twatches. The aim of the pilot was to test FA- Hostage situation STER tools in these different con- Through the COP, the team leader ditions and examine the usability of BUST, which allows users to visua- monitors the ongoing situation in tools, ease of use as well as their lize the building layout and readin- the field, where he reads the field reliability. gs from embedded sensors, was reports coming in through the used to monitor sensors for mo- MMT, STF, BUST sensors aler- Explosion scenario vement, count the number of per- ts, and the geo-localized data is sons in the building sector where shown displayed on top of a map The SUMMIT XL rover, Smart tex- the perpetrator is, and observe of the disaster site. tiles framework (STF), BUST, RE- abnormal readings from tempe- SCUE, Mission Management Tool rature, smoke, and CO2 sensors. Responders evaluated the tools, (MMT), Common Operational Pi- The SUMMIT XL was sent in au- offering feedback to technical de- cture (COP), MORSE tool, and ge- tonomously to spot the perpetra- velopers. These ideas will be incor- sture-controlled mini-UAVs were tor. Through the STF, team leaders porated as much as possible. Fol- used in the first responder’s work. could monitor the biometric infor- lowing the successful trial in 2021, The SUMMIT XL rover and BUST mation - the well-being - of the a second round will be organised building scene analysis tool allow operatives in the field, without the in early 2022 to demonstrate the the first responders to scout and need for other communication to- final version of the FASTER tools. observe the situation in the buil- ols. ding prior to the entry of the operatives, reducing the risk of harm. Fire outbreak With the MMT, COP, Smart textiles and MORSE (gesture-recognition When the BUST tool detected wearables) the first responders movement from a person, the and team leader can communica- SUMMIT XL rover was sent to that 10 4TH ISSUE MAY 2021 Images from within the Finnish pilot site in Kajaani, Finland; March 2021

FASTER NEWSLETTER 11 JOINT ACTIVITY WITH OTHER EU H2020 PROJECTS The European Commission is investing significant effort to enhance disaster resilience. Its H2020 program is funding nume- rous projects to foster innovation for First Responders.

More specifically, the DRS-02 calls requested the development of new ICT tools for First Respon- ders to enhance their capabilities and safety. Each funded project develops innovative solutions to addresses these challenges in a unique way. Nonetheless, there is always an overlap on the tools created. Exploiting the diversity of technical expertise and user needs across the projects through clustering activities opens up new possibilities to collaborate, maximizing the added value of the solutions produced and the exploitation opportunities beyond the lifetime of the projects.

FASTER, recognizing the value of clustering activities, has laun- ched a campaign to engage with relevant projects and foster collaboration over multiple levels, na- mely dissemination, knowledge exchange, and tool integration. In the dissemination level, FASTER is collaborating with H2020 projects INGENIOUS, CURSOR, ASSISTANCE, RESPONDRONE, Search & Rescue, INTREPID, and RESPOND-A to collectively the challenges of the pandemic and address common challen- improve outreach through the was organized by FASTER and ges. dissemination channels of each CURSOR with the participation project. In parallel, FASTER is of 5 projects to exchange expe- As FASTER is moving towards actively participating in the CE- riences and best practices to its final year, its tools are matu- RIS DRS and the IFAFRI com- alleviate the effect of Covid-19 ring, and multiple demonstration munity to present the project and in the project implementation. events are planned. A roadmap exchange ideas with domain and FASTER also participated with has been drafted including pilot cross-domain experts and sta- INGENIOUS in a workshop or- and demonstration activities in keholders. ganized by RESPOND-A on the several European countries, in- use of AR technologies for First cluding France, Spain, Italy, Fin- Moreover, FASTER organizes Responders, where technology land, Portugal, Poland, and Gre- and participates in events for demonstrations and discussions ece, and Japan. FASTER aims to knowledge exchange among took place. Further workshops exploit these events to promote the projects. A cluster event on are planned to share expertise clustering by disseminating them

12 4TH ISSUE MAY 2021 and inviting local First Respon- ders beyond the consortium to follow and participate (if possible) and provide feedback during the events. Moreover, FASTER pursues opportunities for joint piloting activities and tool integration with other projects. Such activities are already planned with CURSOR in Japan and RE- SPOND-A in Athens.

FASTER is looking forward to collaborating with new projects in the future.

First responders in action in the Madrid pilot site, December 2020 FASTER NEWSLETTER 13 THE FASTER PROJECT PATH TO SUSTAINABILITY

The overall idea of a sustainable to project outcomes sustainabili- data should respect GDPR requi- model starts elaborating the con- ty proposed is regulated by three rements. cept of ideas for how to solve Principles linked with FASTER emergency and social problems. project objectives: In the meantime, the FASTER In our case the project addressed project was built on three main Mo- specific First Responders pro- Safety and Effectiveness: the tivations: blems aiming at providing both the FASTER al attention to their safety effectiveness feeling and the im- project proposed from the very be- Creativity: from the proposal wri- provement of their safety [1]. ginning a twofold approach in ad- ting phase the team was hardly dressing both the need for effecti- motivated by several creative ideas It is indisputable that we are cur- ve technologies for first responders and some of them were conside- rently facing the most difficult su- with a special attention to their sa- red achievable during the project. stainability crisis of all time. The fety. pandemic, climate change, po- Innovation: selected technologies verty, pollution, water scarcity, Responsible research and inno- had been approached with an in- overpopulation, income dispari- vation (RRI): The project applied novation-oriented attitude to desi- ties, exploitation of resources and a responsible research attitude gn them in the full respect of the overconsumption are some of the taking also in consideration a tran- three principles illustrated in the challenges and problems that so- sparent, interactive process invol- previous paragraph. metimes facilitate disasters. Pro- ving stakeholder. posing a sustainable model to pe- Sustainability: at this point after ople facing that crisis could be a Standards and Regulations: A the first round of pilots we collected hard job but anyhow emergencies project dealing with First Respon- enough information to proceed must be faced and FASTER is pro- ders definitely should face regula- through a tuning of all technologies viding sustainable solutions that, tion issues for three main reasons; in order to let them fit better First although not solving the general fe- 1) all technologies used by FRs Responders needs. eling of sustainability, could at least should be respect specific stan- give First Responders sustainable dards such as the NISTIR 8196, The following figure illustrates the instruments to be used to fight 2) the use of technologies is regu- path to sustainability, where, star- surrounding challenges keeping lated at national and sometimes ting from identified First Respon- themselves safe. regional levels, 3) use of personal ders needs addressing their ef-

The FASTER project has to pass the sustainability most critical phase: the passage from R&D and demonstration to commercialisation and the so‐called valley of death, which describes a critical financing gap between initial public funding and regular institutional financing. After those consideration, the path

14 4TH ISSUE MAY 2021 fectiveness while improving their next period to address the clear safety a sustainability flow starts identification of what value propo- with the support of both principles sition could be generated by deve- and motivations characterising the loped technologies while identifying FASTER consortium generating a exploiters from the industrial and flow to sustainability involving First research views in order to reach the Responders, Researchers and fi- proper TRL levels to be adopted by nally the industry. First Responders.

1: Brem, A., & Puente-Diaz, R. (2020). In order to guarantee the project Creativity, Innovation, Sustainability: A sustainability, the FASTER team Conceptual Model for Future Research involved First Responders as sta- Efforts. keholders, coming from 8 different countries in the EU, the US and Japan; an advisory group is perio- dically discussing strategic choices done in the project and although the COVID 19 pandemic limited physical meeting, remote meeting also using Role Playing Game approach were used to better un- derstand their needs and evaluate proposals.

The first round of pilots was- per formed in three countries and First Responders have been asked to provide their comments and suggestions to the researchers team. In the meantime, the team also collected information related to funding and decision mechanisms to be implemented to allow the adoption of FASTER technologies by First Responders. The project is going to release an average of TRL6/7 prototypes, so it is still early to address issues related to stan- dardisation. Now that all possible steps to sustainability had been addressed it is important in the Italian Red Cross in action during the moncalieri pilot in Italy, January 2021

FASTER NEWSLETTER 15 www.faster-project.eu 4th ISSUE DECEMBER 2020 - MAY 2021