The NEXES Research and Innovation Action aims to research, test and validate the promising integration of IP-based communication technologies and interoperability into the next generation emergency services, so that they attain increased effectiveness and performance. Empowered by smartphones with cameras, messaging and internet-based applications connecting to social media, citizens expect emergency services to use the same technologies. However, this is not the case. NEXES innovates the approach to the dynamics between emergency services and citizens, allowing (i) the use of total conversation capabilities in emergencies, including social media, to the benefit of citizens, including those with disability or special needs (ii) the exploitation of improved location information to rapidly and effectively identify and locate the caller and the incident site and (iii) the leverage of Internet-enabled connectivity to enhance interoperability and shared awareness among emergency services, to the benefit of a more secure society. The NEXES Consortium gathers world-class European entities, well experienced in the research and development of innovative solutions for communications and emergency products and solutions. The NEXES Team presents extensive background knowledge and in-house solutions to adapt, test and validate in NEXES’s open Testing Regime and Validation Framework, ensuring solid results are achieved to produce relevant Recommendations and contributions to Europe’s standardisation effort on emergency services. To leverage related dissemination and market exploitation activities, the NEXES System, Apps and its operational benefits are demonstrated in three realistic pilots to end-users and stakeholders. In fact, end-users’ involvement, directly ensured by NEXES Partners and indirectly by invited Advisors, is a key contributor to guarantee NEXES’s operational validity as a reference implementation system for next generation emergency services.

MINDb4ACT is a collaborative project participated by 7 LEAs, think-tanks, reserach centres, universities, industry associations and NGO based in 10 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and United Kingdom). The project will align its research priorities with some of the most relevant issues already identified by the European Commission: Priority 1. Systematizing the available knowledge and expertise to support strategic decision-making Priority 2. Enhancing interdisciplinary fieldwork on terrorists' recruiting grounds, socialisation and techniques Priority 3. Using big data in order to analyse the information related to the communication practices of violent radicalisation Priority 4.Improving existing links between academia including non-EU researchers, policy-makers and other stakeholders MINDb4ACT will contribute to such priorities for the improvement of current counter-violent extremism policies (CVEs) in the countries represented in the consortium (Austria, Belgium Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy Poland, Spain and United Kingdom) and the generation of new ones connecting through collaboration ecosystems (innovative, open, participatory, user-centred environments) to co-design interventions such as research actions, exchanges, strategic-policy exercises, training courses and pilot projects based on social innovation and civic engagement schemes (a community of practice of 1,500 people). All actions will be developed in 5 specific domains: prisons and judiciary system; migration hotspots and asylum centres, schools, cities (peri-urban contexts) and the Internet and media. A special contribution of the project will be the integration of technology based practical solutions with the contribution of the industry. As mentioned in the call, MINDb4ACT will NOT be “focused on studying the phenomenon of radicalization" but focused on “developing policy recommendations and practical solutions for end-users"