A partnership of stakeholders has developed a set of free and open tools designed to accelerate innovation in the crisis management field. These outputs include a methodology and technical infrastructure to assess the added value of new socio-technical solutions in trial situations; an online catalogue of innovative solutions matching identified gaps; a networking platform for crisis management professionals; and a network of Centres of Expertise to support the community in the use of DRIVER+ outputs.
The DRIVER+ research project has played an important part in accelerating innovation in crisis and disaster risk management as part of the wider European Commission’s efforts to improve EU resiliency. Now completed, the legacy of the project is a powerful and diverse set of sustainable outputs for crisis management stakeholders, including practitioners, policy makers, scientific researchers and industry. These outputs were tested and developed in a series of four large-scale crisis scenario Trials and a Final Demonstration, the latter with the active participation of the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC):
- The Trial Guidance Methodology is an organized approach to assess crisis management solutions through Trials based on realistic scenarios. It is underpinned by the Trial Guidance Tool to guide users through the process of designing, executing and evaluating a Trial and the Test-bed Technical Infrastructure, which connects solutions and simulates a controlled crisis environment.
- The Portfolio of Solutions is an interactive online database that catalogues innovative crisis management solutions at different technology readiness levels according to a well-structured taxonomy of crisis management functions and gaps.
- The Centres of Expertise network has been established to support capability development and innovation management, using and updating the various DRIVER+ outcomes.
- CMINE is the Crisis Management Innovation Network Europe – an active online community, which is helping professionals network and share best practice with colleagues and peers, enhancing the shared understanding of crisis management in Europe.
For more information, to download reports or for details of the Trials and project outputs, visit the DRIVER+ website at https://www.driver-project.eu/ or contact: coordination@projectdriver.eu
