Research

Research and development efforts around public and civil security have substantially increased — in the US, these efforts are subsumed under the thematic umbrella ‘homeland security’. A majority of the efforts aim at the use of Information Technology, with a special emphasis on using IT ‘in the field’ (sensor networks, ad hoc communication, wearable IT for first responders, etc.). Much less emphasis is put on command and control centers and on holistic approaches.

The Public and Civil Security area focuses on three strategic assets:

1. Integrated infrastructures: The holistic approach aims at integration of heterogeneous services from acquisition via decision to execution
2. Control center oriented approach: all gathered data is bound to serve the fastest, most well-founded, and most effective decisions
3. Human centered approach: Operations depend on humans working under heavy stress and ever increasing information load, a human centered approach is crucial for successful crisis response and management