Project
| Acronym: | NOTIONES |
|---|---|
| Title: | iNteracting netwOrk of inTelligence and securIty practitiOners with iNdustry and acadEmia actorS |
| Duration: | 01.09.2021 – 31.08.2026 |
| Topic: | SU-GM01-2020 |
| Call: | Pan-European networks of practitioners & other actors in the field of security |
| Funding: | H2020 – Coordination and Support Action (CSA) |
| GA Number: | 101021853 |
| CORDIS: | CORDIS Project Profile |
Project Background
Novel technologies have presented practitioners with new opportunities to improve the intelligence process, but have also been exploited by actors like terrorists, creating new challenges and threats. Consequently, the timely identification of emerging technologies and analysis of their potential impact, not only on the intelligence community but also on terrorist or criminal organisations, is crucial.
However, time constraints can prevent intelligence practitioners from being updated on the most recent technologies. This can for instance delay efforts to adapt these technologies to the needs of the intelligence community, while also hindering the early definition of counter measures to respond to related changes in the threat landscape.
In order to address this challenge, NOTIONES, which is deriving its name from a Latin lemma referring to “being informed”, will establish a network to connect researchers and industries with the intelligence community. This network will facilitate exchange on new and emerging technologies but also equip solution providers with insights on the corresponding needs and requirements of practitioners. The so gained findings will be disseminated in periodic reports containing technologic roadmaps, priorities and recommendations for future research projects and development activities.
Elicitation of the needs of intelligence and security practitioners.
In order to focus the research and development efforts on the needs and requirements of intelligence and security professionals, the project will work closely with end users from across Europe to identify the challenges associated with contemporary intelligence processes and the role of technology in their operations.
Promote interaction of technology providers and academy with intelligence and security practitioners.
By matching the practitioners’ requirements with existing or upcoming technological solutions, specific focus areas will be identified, discussed and enriched by technology providers and academic professionals, connecting supply and demand. Dedicated working groups will be arranged in order to explore the selected focus areas.
Identification of novel technologies relevant for practitioners through research monitoring.
NOTIONES will monitor and analyse novel technologies and insights relevant for intelligence and security practitioners. The output of the research monitoring activity will be fed to the active working groups, in order to update them on the most recent emerging technologies and to propose new themes for their discussions.
Periodically publish a report which summarise findings in order to orientate future research project programming.
Practitioners will be guided to the definition of common requirements, priorities and standardization needs to be adopted by industrial and research players as well as practitioners themselves. Requirements, standardization needs, feasibility considerations, risks and opportunities identified within the working groups will be summarized in periodic reports.
Ensure the commitment and involvement of new organisations in the pan-European NOTIONES network.
NOTIONES will ensure the engagement of new organisations in the project and expansion of the network by organising workshops and conferences. During these events, the interaction with research and industry will be tailored on each specific focus area, thus assuring a tangible benefit for all stakeholders.
The NOTIONES network
Working groups
The working groups envisaged in NOTIONES represent the realization of an active and engaged working environment for practitioners and representatives of academy and industry, to discuss specific technology areas and related needs of the practitioners.
Workshops
The five workshops envisaged in NOTIONES are dedicated to the internal network of NOTIONES, to finalize and provide updates on the activities of the working groups. Selected external stakeholders whose experience and expertise are expected to provide a true added value to the discussion of the working groups will be invited as well.
Conferences
The five conferences envisaged in NOTIONES encase the expansion of the network to a wide number of other practitioners and representatives of industry and academy. The objectives of the conferences are the dissemination of the results and findings of NOTIONES and the enhancement of interaction with external stakeholders.
Project Approach
Step1: Audit and assessment
NOTIONES will undertake an assessment of the contemporary and emerging needs and challenges faced by security and intelligence practitioners. A special emphasis will hereby be placed on the role of technology in the practitioner’s day to day operations and related requirements. The outcome will be a detailed report depicting the constraints, needs and requirements of intelligence practitioners.
Step 2: Technologies
NOTIONES will conduct a full review of the technologies and tools used in the different intelligence phases. The utility and potential areas of improvement of these technologies will be evaluated against the in Step 1 identified challenges and requirements.
Step 3: Analysis of technology-enabled terrorist threats
NOTIONES will perform a review and analysis of terrorist threats, including birth and diffusion of radical narratives, organizational developments, terrorist communications, logistics, acquisition of weapons and attack methodologies. Special emphasis will be placed on the potential exploitation of emerging technologies (Step 2) by terrorists.
Step 4: Monitoring of innovation
NOTIONES will perform a deep survey of the emerging technologies that are the most promising in the field of intelligence and security using CORDIS as well as other databases. Relevant technologies and related developments will be systematically reviewed based on an “horizon scanning” approach. The insights gained will be used to highlighting opportunities and threats that may influence the capability of organizations and bodies providing intelligence and security services to achieve their objectives and goals.
Step 5: Interaction with industry and academia
NOTIONES will gather the expertise of academia and industry representatives and facilitate their exchange with intelligence and security practitioners. Selected professionals, experts and end-users will be invited to participate in the NOTIONES network during the working groups, the workshops and the conferences organized by the project.
Step 6: Catalogue of solutions: requirements and standardization needs
NOTIONES will regularly inform its network on the various research findings produced, like the identification of novel technologies of relevance for security and intelligence practitioners. Based on these outcomes requirements and standardization needs, as well as technologic priorities and recommendations will be defined. These recommendations will be synthesized into specifications that will be provided to industry and academy across Europe.