Research Projects

Synopsis:

The raw materials supply for manufacturing companies in energy and communication technology is a vulnerable system. The sensitivity of Austrian high-tech industries is particularly significant where the possibility to substitute scarce and expensive raw materials is lacking. The aim of the "Situation Centre" to be designed is the establishment of an indicator-based early warning system for critical strategic raw materials. For this purpose, structures, procedures, legal frameworks and information and communication technology requirements of the situation centre will be defined in a specification document and the concept will be evaluated exemplarily using a use case.

Detailed Brief Description:

• Funding Programme: National Security Research Programme KIRAS
• Project Type: R&D Service
• Project Costs: Total costs: EUR 102,807
• Project Period: 10/2014 - 04/2016
• Project Idea: (09/2013)
  • On the initiative of the Board of the CRC, a consortium was formed in September 2013 which developed the present KIRAS project. The project was approved for implementation by the FFG in 2014 and is financed through the KIRAS national security research programme (www.kiras.at).
  • Further information via CLICK ON THIS LINK.

ASGARD

ANALYSIS SYSTEM FOR GATHERED RAW DATA

Objective:

• ASGARD has a single objective: to contribute to the technological autonomy of law enforcement agencies and to the effective use of technology. The technologies will be transferred to end users within an open-source programme, with the focus on forensics, intelligence and foresight (intelligence-led prevention and anticipation). ASGARD will drive advances in the processing of seized data, the availability of vast amounts of data and big data solutions in an increasingly connected world. New research areas will also be addressed. The consortium consists of LEA end users and practitioners who will "pull" from the research and development community and "push" knowledge transfer and innovation. A community of LEA users is the endpoint of ASGARD with technology as the focal point for collaboration (a restricted open-source community). In addition to traditional use cases and tests, ASGARD will utilise hackathons in line with open-source concepts and continuous integration approaches to demonstrate its results. Vendor lock-in will be addressed, whilst also considering its role and the investments already made by LEAs. The project will adopt a cyclical approach to achieve initial results. Dataset, data analysis (multimodal/multimedia), data mining and visual analytics are included in the work plan. Technologies will be developed according to the motto "It works" and not "It is the best". Strategies for rapid deployment/flexible use are envisaged.
• The project includes a licensing and IPR approach that is consistent with LEA realities and ethical requirements. ASGARD includes a comprehensive approach to data protection, ethics and societal impacts with consideration of fundamental rights. ASGARD leverages the existing relationship of trust between LEAs and the R&D industry as well as experiential knowledge in FCT research. ASGARD will enable its user community to take advantage of agile methodologies, technology trends and open-source approaches currently utilised by the general ICT industry as well as by organised crime organisations and terrorists.

Funding Programme | Dimensions:

• EU Horizon 2020,
• Project Type: RIA - Research and Innovation Action
• Total Project Costs: EUR 11,992,556.25
• Project Period: 09/2016 - 02/2020
• Call for Proposals for CORDIS Programme 2015: CLICK HERE
• Link to European Commission-Community Research and Development Information Service: CLICK HERE
• Link to ASGARD Project Homepage: CLICK HERE

SHELTER

Sustainable Historic Environments hoListic reconstruction through Technological Enhancement and community based Resilience

Objective:

• In recent decades, cultural heritage has been affected by an increasing number of climate-related hazards as a result of climate change impacts, presenting custodians and heritage managers with new challenges.
• SHELTER aims to develop a data-driven and community-based knowledge framework that brings together stakeholders from the scientific community and cultural heritage sector to enhance resilience, reduce vulnerability, and promote better and safer reconstruction in historic areas. The first step towards improving resilience is linked to enhancing understanding of the direct and indirect impacts of climate and environmental change and natural hazards on historic sites and buildings, by connecting concepts used in disaster risk management and climate change adaptation with cultural heritage management to make inclusive and informed decisions.
• Comprehensive disaster risk management plans must be developed based on the specific characteristics of cultural heritage and the nature of hazards in a regional context, taking into account the various types of cultural heritage as well as the specific socio-economic conditions, as these directly affect the environment and vulnerability of such systems. Through a deep understanding of the hazards, exposure and vulnerability of the historic area, local dynamics, and the provision of innovative governance and community-based models, useful methods, tools and strategies can be provided to improve resilience and ensure sustainable reconstruction.
• Due to the information complexity and the different data sources, the SHELTER framework will be implemented in a data-driven multi-scale and multi-source platform capable of providing the information required for planning and adaptive governance. All project developments will be validated in 5 open laboratories that are representative of the main climate and environmental challenges in Europe and of the various typologies of cultural heritage. (Translation from the English original text)

Keywords:

• Heritage preservation, Climatology and climate change, S5 - Emergency response (Copernicus service), Geoinformation and geodata analysis, Sustainable innovation, Resilience, Sustainable reconstruction, Historic areas, Natural hazards (Translation from the English original text)

Funding Programme | Dimensions

• EU Horizon 2020,
• Project type: RIA - Research and Innovation Action
• Total project costs: EUR 5,999,448.75
• Project period: 06/2019 - 05/2023
• H2020 Call: H2020-LC-CLA-2018-2 (Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future: climate action in support of the Paris Agreement)

Further Information

• Link to European Commission-Community Research and Development Information Service: Call for proposals: CLICK HERE
• Link to SHELTER Project Homepage: CLICK HERE

NUTRISAFE

Ensuring Food Production and Logistics with Distributed Ledger Technology

Objective:

• Blockchain, or more precisely Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), is currently an omnipresent topic. Particularly in the field of FinTech (Financial Technology) or InsureTech (Insurance Technology), an increasing number of implementations and promising applications can be found. However, this technology is not limited to the finance or insurance industry alone, but can be deployed in many other use cases. One of these areas is the food industry.
• Through digitalisation and the use of efficient processes, the entire agricultural value chain has been continuously optimised. The objective of the bilateral project "NutriSafe" is to research the potential, risks and impact of DLT technology on the resilience of value chains in the food industry and on food supply security. The increasing occurrence of natural disasters, technical accidents, crime and terrorism, as well as security vulnerabilities in information and communication technologies, threaten the functionality of critical infrastructures and thus the supply of food to the population.
• Due to the high importance of the food sector, a comprehensive examination of the impact of new technologies in this area is of particular significance. One aspect is the traceability of goods flows in a complex supply chain network, which has already been successfully tested in pilot projects by corporations such as Walmart and Maersk.
• The origin of end products can be quickly determined with the help of DLT. This speed is of crucial importance, particularly in crisis situations. Additionally, this technology can help secure a supply chain when information security in production facilities or operational information systems such as ERP systems is not guaranteed.
• For this purpose, developing a methodology for evaluating DLT in the food industry, especially for crisis situations, is indispensable. In the course of the project, several use cases involving the deployment of DLT in the food industry will be examined (e.g.: IT attack on milking robots, product contamination, transport interruptions), which have a direct impact on food supply security in Austria. Developed methodologies will be tested and assessed in collaboration with practice partners and stakeholders, and prepared within the framework of a Serious Game for training purposes. This will result in innovative methods and models to improve food safety and secure supply in emergencies.

Funding Programme | Scope

• AT: KIRAS Funding Programme: www.kiras.at
• DE: Security Research Programme: www.sifo.de
• Project Type: Bilateral Research Project Germany/Austria
• Total Project Costs AT: EUR 862,659
• Project Period: 02/2019 - 01/2021 (24 months)

Further Information

• KIRAS Platform: CLICK HERE
• NUTRISAFE Homepage: Austria: www.nutrisafe.at
• NUTRISAFE Homepage: Germany: www.nutrisafe.de
• NUTRISAFE Introductory Presentation at IKT2019: CLICK HERE