Interoperability

Diagnosing a novel assessment model

Abstract

Today, uncertainty is what is more certain in our daily living. In the domain of security and protection, uncertainty becomes a critical condition for the decision-making process. Crowd’s protection is a complex and arduous problem in what concerns to guaranty security and safety during mass gatherings. In Europe, after several terrorist attacks targeting crowded places, the first responders had to cooperate to mitigate the terrible effects of a terrorist attack, violence or an accident. The promotion of a better cooperation amongst first responders should be based on a multilevel interoperability model to solve potential and real coordination problems during rescue operations. It is clear that an interoperable system will respond in a better and integrated way to save lives. Preparedness is the key element. We all know that there are some traditional barriers for the interoperability implementation, such as technological, cultural, organisational and individual. The presentation of a general reflexion about the critical aspects of interoperability governance (plan, decision-making and training) tackles key issues such as innovation, harmonisation of safety and security culture, articulation of top-down and bottom-up approaches, operational procedures, technological support and general training. The discussion of a diagnosis model to assess the European interoperability continuum will give some food for thoughts to draft a roadmap to enhance the potential of each organisation and the overall interoperability system