BORDERUAS project in the Nicosia Risk Forum 2020

The BorderUAS project was presented by our consortium partner ADDITESS LTD (ADI) during the Nicosia Risk Forum 2020 (NRF2020).  Nicosia Risk Forum is an inventive event for the area of South-Eastern Europe, which unites partners from academies, industries, governments, policies, and other socials with a compelling interest in societal safety. Due to Co-Vid19 restrictions, #NRF2020 took place virtually on the 26th of November 2020. This year’s theme of #NRF2020 focused on “Regional Collaboration in Societal Safety”.

ADI highlighted that the BorderUAS project will combine for the first time a multi-role lighter-than-air (LTA) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with an ultra-high resolution multi-sensor surveillance payload supporting border surveillance as well as search & rescue applications, and specifically rough terrain detection. The objectives, the scope, the consortium partners and their specific roles were also clearly described to the audience.  

A significant part of the presentation was dedicated to the field trials of the project during which the technology concepts will be validated by 6 border police units (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus) covering 3 major illegal migration routes into Europe (Eastern Mediterranean, Western Balkan and Eastern Borders Routes), which represent 58% of all illegal border crossings detected and are also the most used for smuggling of drugs, weapons and stolen vehicles.

ADI concluded with the expected field trial results and the significance of the findings in the continuity of the program. Last but not least a specific reference was made to the contribution of NGOs partners working with irregular migration and human right protection issues, as well as regulatory experts dealing with the ethics and privacy requirements of border surveillance
solutions.

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