On 30th September, the largest Work Package of the BroadMap project consolidating and validating practitioners’ requirements has been completed and delivered to the European Commission. This was the largest consultation of European PPDR end users ever carried out with the aim to validate and prioritise requirements for European interoperable broadband applications, services, networks and devices.    

The BroadMap consortium cordially invites PPDR End Users / Practitioners to the dedicated BroadMap Stakeholder Workshop, to be held on the 10th of November 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Further details are available below.

What: BroadMap Stakeholder Workshop

When: 10 November 2016

Where: Belgian Federal Police, Auditorium. Rue Royale 202A, 1000, Brussels.

Registration: To register, please fill out this online form: http://www.broadmap.eu/stakeholder-event-registration 

September 14th, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker delivered his State of the Union address before the Members of Parliament in Strasbourg: ‘towards a better Europe, a Europe that protects, empowers and defends’.

President Juncker presented the priorities for this upcoming year and outlined how the European Union will deal with the major challenges Europe is currently facing. The State of the Union had a strong focus on public safety and security.

The Ministry of Interior of Italy organised a BroadMap workshop in Rome on 20th July 2016.

The United Kingdom Government is replacing the current emergency communication service managed by Airwave and used by police, fire and ambulance services, with a brand new system, the Emergency Services Network (ESN). ESN promises to be the most advanced emergency communication service in the world, but as it is not yet being used by any other nation, the risks of implementing ESN are yet to be known.

Throughout this summer, BroadMap project partners have been busy organising workshops to gather together an unprecedented set of opinions from PPDR end users with regard to the future of their mobile technologies. Overall, BroadMap workshops have involved 242 PPDR organisations from 17 countries across Europe cumulatively gathering more than 600 participants, including practitioners from national police forces, fire brigades, emergency services, customs authorities, militaries, traffic agencies, mountain rescue services, port authorities, coast guards, as well as several national ministries of interior and defence. Further discussion with PPDR end users will continue in the coming months.

The Belgian Federal Public Service of the Interior (Service Public Fédéral Intérieur) this summer organised two BroadMap related workshops in Brussels, first on 26th July and then on 9th August.

The European Commission strives to make 5G a reality for all citizens and businesses in Member States by the end of this decade. To realize 5G application in EU states everywhere, the European Commission created a 5G for Europe Action Plan.

The first live test connection between the TETRA networks in Sweden and Norway was carried out 28 June. This is an important step towards enhancing PPDR’s services interoperability across borders.

BroadMap workshops have also been held in Paris, France. Hosted by the French Ministry of Interior, the workshops took place on 15th June and 7th July, gathering a total of 25 attendees, including representatives from the French emergency ambulance, prison, police, fire brigade, customs, as well the Ministry of Ecology, which represents a complete panel of PPDR users.

On 7 September, the European Commission proposed an EU certification system for airport security equipment, which will promote a more competitive EU security industry. This proposal is in line with the European Agenda on Security and the Commission’s effort to achieve an effective EU Security Union.