eNOTICE Project

The overall goal of the eNOTICE project is to establish a European network of CBRN training, testing and demonstration centres aiming at enhancing CBRN training capacity for improved preparedness and incident response through increased collaboration between CBRN training centres and practitioners’ needs-driven CBRN innovation and research.

eNOTICE is coordinated by the Université catholique de Louvain.

Establish a Framework

Elaborate a framework for European network of CBRN training centers, testing and demonstration sites:

  • To identify and roster the EU CBRN TC, testing and demonstration sites and map their capabilities, facilities, specificities, and geographical location, as well as their professional, economic and legal links. This will be the framework for categorising the centres, and for elaboration of a capacity/quality label
  • To survey participants interacting with and influencing the CBRN TC network: users (practitioners, first responders, technology operators, customers), technology suppliers (industry and research), training professionals and policy makers. A thorough analysis and identification of their respective needs and expectations for process and technology innovation will be carried out to draw up a roadmap of factors, criteria and motivations prompting their membership to this network
  • To identify Key Performance Indicators of a successful network of TC (e.g. DMTRAINET [AETS/DG ECHO 2013]), including the analysis of barriers often hampering practitioners to fully and efficiently participate in a network, and identification of levers and drivers of commitment to a collaborative community during the project.
  • To capitalize on prior mapping of CBRN and security stakeholders: CBRN component of the Community of Users (CoU) on secure safe and resilient societies (DG HOME), the EDEN project end-user and supplier platforms, the relevant SEC-05-DRS-2016 CBRN Cluster network of CBRN suppliers and practitioners, DG ECHO DM TRAINET, DG DEVCO CBRN Centre of Excellence, UNICRI and JRC and regional/international organisations (e.g. IAEA, WHO, OPCW). Other CBRNrelevant networks with similar scope, goals and member profile will be identified at international, national, regional and local levels, taking advantage of their experience and lessons they learnt, while fostering collaboration and synergies.
  • To elaborate a global framework for a sustainable European network of CBRN TC and associated stakeholders wishing to cooperate with peers, to build on the current eNOTICE consortium and expand it further. The framework will be based upon clear missions, realistic expectations and an adequate management structure ensuring its sustainability through better perception and understanding of the professional added value and return, and confidence-building between all parties.

Connect Training Centers

Establish a web-based information and communication platform to provide, share and disseminate information during and after the project: to make the eNOTICE network visible and attractive to CBRN-TC and external stakeholders, to provide access to CBRN-TC capacities according to a ‘capacity label’, and to encourage and facilitate communication and interactions between all parties:

  • To make the eNOTICE network visible through a web based information and communication platform informing on CBRN TC specificities and profiles (i.e., training and testing facilities), enabling seamless interactions between practitioners and technology innovation providers. Secure access to the information and communication platform will be implemented. Maintenance and continuous improvement of the platform will be provided, and sustainability mechanism will be developed.
  • To encourage all stakeholders to share and discuss information, needs and expectations through web based functions and to raise awareness of shared interests, synergies and opportunities for collaboration. Thorough knowledge and content management will be used to represent and share the information in the best optimal way between multidisciplinary stakeholders. A mix of web based activities (e.g., interactive forums, collaborative scenario building, databases and documents sharing) will be implemented and maintained to keep a widespread use of the platform during and beyond the project
  • To make the capacity of the CBRN TC, testing and demonstration sites visible through a ‘capacity label’ informing on expertise, training and testing capabilities, specificities and profiles.

Optimize Resources

Set up an operational transactional network for optimising investments by pooling and sharing resources, expertise, and effective practices, by organising joint activities between the eNOTICE network members and external partners, and by liaising with other networks of CBRN stakeholders:

  • To identify good practices in preparing and organising stand-alone exercises and exercises combined with tests, validations or demonstrations. A standardised effective practice will be implemented based on a threefold template that will be used as a checklist for recording and monitoring the organisation, evaluation and follow up of such activities.
  • To organise joint activities between the eNOTICE beneficiaries or between an eNOTICE project beneficiary and external partners to demonstrate the benefits of sharing resources and optimising outcome. EU and national CBRN projects will be monitored to identify networking activities, promising innovations and to facilitate dissemination and exploitation through the eNOTICE network by organizing joint activities, such as using eNOTICE consortium facilities for the projects training, testing or demonstration events. eNOTICE will support testing, validation and training of new technologies in operational end-user facilities to ensure that all user’s operational procedures are respected, being in realistic environment set up by users, by involving members of the eNOTICE practitioners community. To organise joint activities within the consortium, and for some of those, with external partners, in order to document the outcome benefits of sharing resources. EU and national CBRN projects taking potential advantage of the consortium training and testing facilities will be looked at, thereby expanding the scope and size of the network, fast-tracking innovations and expanding dissemination. Practitioners’ involvement in tests, validation and training in new technologies inside well-adapted infrastructures and in real-life or simulated situations will prompt the respect of operational procedures, support CBRN innovation and make those better fit users’ needs. This objective will provide support to CBRN research projects with easier access to the users and training facilities.
  • To support EU policies (DG HOME, DG ECHO, DG DEVCO and others) through improved national and cross-border capacities, hence better CBRN incidents preparedness and response, and increased resilience to CBRN attacks, new or emerging threats. It will be strengthened by creating a common single interface between the eNOTICE functional platform and EU mechanisms with similar goals.
  • To provide recommendations to the EU R&D programme based on regular feedback from CBRN training professionals and practitioners, and the lessons learned from eNOTICE joint activities.
  • To elaborate a plan to pool and share resources for optimisation of investments – propose and describe the enhancement, functionality and sustainability mechanism for the network.