Ongoing and future crises requires an improved mechanism of the overall Crisis Management system, and the European Crisis Management Laboratory (ECML) is an ideal hub to support this vision by bringing together a broad set of projects across the JRC, working on early warning or impact assessment of crises as well as quantifying, qualifying and anticipating the potential risks of the future.
The JRC European Crisis Management Laboratory acts as a research, development and test facility for ICT focused solutions which integrate devices, applications, and crisis management related information sources to support crisis management needs, such as threats analysis, common situation awareness, and collaborative decision making. The laboratory also allows distributed crisis management training across relevant services of the European Commission, as well as with partners in the EU Member States and others engaged in crisis management, thereby enhancing their awareness and confidence in the application of technological solutions, and strengthening their effectiveness in crisis management.
The ECML focuses on integration of projects, data, tools, and methods, fostering strong collaboration with EU crisis rooms and European Research partners, while aiming to create synergies with global/regional multi-hazard early warning centres/services. ECML provides a forum for crisis and disaster risk management training and exercises, including scenarios, simulations, and testing of the applicable technology. In this context, ECML is especially relevant to Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism to aggregate, process and disseminate relevant knowledge and information. ECML, based on a multi-hazard approach, aims to be in strong engagement with other stakeholders within the European Commission and civil protection – disaster management actors of the Member States.
The laboratory is used in a variety of crisis scenarios ranging from intentional threats and natural disasters to health crises. The use of visual analytics for improving information readability, visualization, and effectiveness, particularly in large video screen environments, forms an integral part of the laboratory research. The Laboratory has a central role during real emergencies when the analysis of complex events requires the use of several software components to give a unique picture of the ongoing events. The European Crisis Management Laboratory is equipped with a 5 x 2.2 m. large video wall that can be fed by several video and/or audio sources. It is also fitted with two video conference systems, two phone lines, an A0 plotter, wireless network accesses, and several computers always ready with tools and connections for the research and operational activities. The laboratory's staff is operational during working days, but the infrastructure could, in principle, be operated on a 24h basis by personnel from other European Commission services who could use the European Crisis Management Laboratory as a backup of their systems to assure business continuity, and in the extreme situations when their respective crisis rooms are not available.
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The laboratory will be tested in a variety of crisis scenarios ranging from intentional threats and natural disasters to health crises. The use of visual analytics for improving information readability, visualization and effectiveness, particularly in large video screen environments, will form an integral part of the laboratory research. The Laboratory has a central role during real emergencies when the analysis of complex events requires the use of several software components to give a unique picture of the ongoing events. The European Crisis Management Laboratory is equipped with a 5 x 2.2 m. large video wall that can be fed by several video and/or audio sources. It is also fitted with a video conference system, A0 plotter, printer, several computers, wireless. The laboratory's staff is operational during working days, but the infrastructure can be operated on a 24h basis by personnel from other European Commission services who can use the European Crisis Management Laboratory as a backup of their systems to assure business continuity, and also in the extreme situations when their respective crisis rooms are not available.