FreiburgRESIST: Federal data for resilient local authorities

The kick-off meeting for the FreiburgRESIST project took place recently in Freiburg. The project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), aims to develop a dynamic and networked resilience management system (REMSY) for the city of Freiburg. Among other things, it was initiated to enable rapid evacuation in Freiburg’s old town, with its narrow streets and bustling squares, during major events. The main users of REMSY are public authorities and organisations with security responsibilities (BOS), event organisers, citizens and event participants. The project is one of five selected projects on security research in the ‘SifoLIFE – Demonstration of innovative, networked security solutions’ competition. The aim is to develop holistic concepts for the deployment of security solutions and to test them in practice.

The dynamic, networked resilience management system to be developed for Freiburg will, on the one hand, support the preparation and planning of security concepts for major events. On the other hand, it assists emergency services with a wealth of data linked via the emergency services and location-specific situational overviews, enabling them to manage and respond to constantly changing situations. In addition, the system is intended to provide further information to situation and operations centres during crises and large-scale incidents of all kinds. Events can be evaluated retrospectively in order to carry out training measures based on this and to produce further analyses and reports.

Focus on public safety

Materna helps local authorities and public safety agencies to achieve their objectives more easily and sustainably, to develop relevant new capabilities, and to cooperate seamlessly with one another. A key focus is on increasing resilience and improving the management of large-scale incidents. In the FreiburgRESIST project, we are the lead implementation partner for the coordination, development and integration of the functional modules into the overall system. An app is being developed for businesses, event organisers and the general public to enable straightforward communication regarding the situation. In addition, a mobile version of the system is being implemented for law enforcement and emergency services to facilitate operational coordination and facilitate the debriefing process. Materna applies various analytical methods within the data environment for monitoring and advanced forecasting. In data collection, great importance is attached to a high level of data protection and public acceptance.

Alongside technical solutions, social strategies are being devised to strengthen the initiative and civic courage of the local population and visitors to the city. This includes extensive field trials at the Christmas market and the marathon, involving members of the public.

The holistic approach of the participatory FreiburgRESIST project is highly transferable to other local authorities and cities. The system is structured in modules that can be adapted to the requirements of comparable scenarios in many public authorities and institutions. In addition to continuing the project with the police and fire service in Freiburg, there are plans for nationwide deployment in the field of civil and public protection, in major incidents involving hazard mitigation, and in mobile command and control centres for the police and fire service. To this end, the aim is to establish cooperation with the relevant state and federal authorities that extends beyond the project’s duration.

Further information on FreiburgRESIST is available in the City of Freiburg’s press release.