Process improvements aimed at providing integral surveillance for major critical infrastructures

The comprehensive surveillance of critical infrastructures that occupy large spaces and extensive geographic zones such as distribution networks for water, gas, or fuel, railway tracks, motorways, etc. poses a major challenge for European countries due to their significant relevance.

Any failures occurring in facilities of this kind could give rise to serious negative consequences for the public sector, the population, the economy and the environment. In certain instances, these infrastructures actually run across territories belonging to different countries and are managed by different bodies pursuant to concession agreements covering one or more sectors. This is what makes it much more difficult to integrate all the information and have it fully available in a coordinated and timely manner.

This is the context of the European project called ZONeSEC in which IK4-TEKNIKER is currently involved. It aims to provide an integrated protective platform for these infrastructures that is able to meet surveillance requirements of extensive areas and enhances citizens’ safety. It must also address a number of elements that are highly relevant in today’s context such as costs, complexity, vulnerability, social acceptance and the regulatory frameworks that apply to data protection and ethics.

IK4-TEKNIKER’s activities address several areas in this project. On the one hand, the organisation is playing a leading role in terms of developing new low-cost monitoring solutions and is, in fact, building up a network of auto-feeding wireless sensors to monitor vibrations along perimeter fences and also detect unusual behaviour.

On the other hand, and in addition to focusing on wireless sensors and dealing with problems involving large infrastructures (deploying and maintaining a large number of sensors –more than 1,000 units -), IK4 TEKNIKER is also working to define tools and methodologies for the purpose of optimising overall operation costs (price per unit + deployment costs + maintenance + operation).

Lastly, IK4-TEKNIKER is also actively involved in cooperative actions aimed at developing the platform’s architecture and the communications infrastructure to be designed within the scope of this project.

Survey

The Europen project ZONeSEC is carrying out a survey on the views and degree of acceptance of the population in terms of surveillance/monitoring technologies in use in a number of contexts, although special attention is being given a number of tools and systems that are considered to be highly relevant for the surveillance and maintenance of public assets.

The purpose of the survey is to collect data and discover the views and opinions of citizens so they can be taken into consideration when the time comes to defining the definitive architecture of the project. We invite you to participate in this survey by clicking here.

Many thanks for your help!