FINAL DEMONSTRATION
26TH- 28TH NOVEMBER 2019,
WARSAW, POLAND & THE
HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS
(english version)

The Final Demonstration (Final Demo) was the last Trial, concluding the series of DRIVER+ Trials. It also provided an opportunity to showcase the main outcomes of the Project.

The event had been tailored to the needs of the main End-User – the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) – and was conducted in accordance with the project’s methodology. The ERCC, situated in Brussels, was created in 2001, following the European Parliament Decision on Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). It is the highest Crisis Management coordination body in the European Union. The primary aim of the UCPM is to strengthen cooperation between Participating States – Members States and others affiliated in the UCPM – in the field of civil protection, in order to respond to disasters as effectively and synergistically as possible. Since 2001, the UCPM has been activated over 300 times and each year the number of activations is growing. New innovative solutions, improving the realisation of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism tasks, are continually being sought.

The ERCC monitors the situation from Brussels and has an expert support group deployed on the ground called the European Union Civil Protection Coordination Team (EUCPT). The main role of the EUCPT is to coordinate activities in the field by liaising between the UCPM Modules and the Local Emergency Management Authority (of the country stricken by a disaster), in order to provide a common understanding of the needs and to ensure a relevant and timely response.

The Final Demo addressed the communication aspects between the UCPM components, mainly the ERCC, the EUCPT and the Modules, which are sent to the country in crisis by states affiliated within the scope of the UCPM. The main areas addressed were:

• reporting on the operational activities from the field to the ERCC;
• information exchange among Team Leaders of the Modules, and the EUCPT;
• geo-information support for situation assessment and decision-making for Team Leaders of the Modules and the EUCPT.

The Final Demo’s overall goal, similar to the other four Trials, was to follow the DRIVER+ methodology and show if, and how, the innovative DRIVER+ solutions can minimise a specific set of identified gaps in Crisis Management.

• Shortcomings in interoperability in the ability to exchange crisis-related information among agencies and organisation.
• Lack of a “Common Operational Picture” to integrate data sources and calculation results from different models crucial for the decision making process.
• Limitations in the ability to merge and synthetise disparate data sources and models (e.g. historic events, spreading models, tactical situation, critical assets map) in (near) real time to support decision making.

The Final Demo was organised by the Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences with the support of Consortium Members, including: The Main School of Fire Service, the Joint Research Centre, Thales Communication & Security SAS, XVR Simulation BV, Frequentis AG and the Safety Region Haaglanden in The Hague. The Final Demo, as a command post exercise, had several locations. The different locations aimed to simulate remote conditions, in which different actors of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism work on a daily basis.

The Final Demo took place at the following locations:

• The Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) situated in the Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw, Poland).
• The European Union Civil Protection Team (EUCPT) located at the Main School of Fire Service (Warsaw, Poland).
• 4 Ground Forest Fire Fighting using Vehicles (GFFFV) Modules command posts placed in the Main School of Fire Service (Warsaw, Poland).
• 1 AirMedEvac Module command post in the Safety Region Haaglanden (The Hague, The Netherlands).

The fictional country Driverstan, situated outside the European Union but relatively close, is a democratic republic, however, is not yet as fully developed as the EU countries – it is lacking solid Crisis Management structures, a stable economy and a strong civil society. The scenario of the Final Demo focused on largescale forest fires in a rural area with potential developments, causing a complex humanitarian crisis.

Due to high temperatures and lack of rainfall during recent weeks, the number of forest fires is multiplying in the country. Domestic response capabilities are not sufficient to cope with the fires alone. Driverstan creates a Request for Assistance (RfA) that is shared with the ERCC, EU Member States and affiliated countries. The Union Civil Protection Mechanism was activated and offer of support from different countries was gathered.

The scenario expected to trigger an exchange of information between the ERCC, EUCPT and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The use of the DRIVER+ selected innovative solutions, tested alongside the standard operational procedures of the ERCC, EUPCT and Modules, demonstrated the potential added value of the solutions in such a Crisis Management situation.