The Small Scale Test #16 (SST#16) of the INGENIOUS project took place on 26-28 September 2022 at Ertzaintza facilities in Iurreta, Bilbao, Spain. The goal was to test and validate the INGENIOUS Fusion engine – FE (EXUS) & Expert Reasoning (CERTH) and Worksite Operation App (EXUS). During the SST a use case simulating a response to a single site after a terror attack in public space was used to design a sequence of steps in order to approximate realistic scenarios as the ones that were played out during the final Full Scale eXercise (2^nd FSX).

The SST scenario included the usage of the FE as a middleware to provide the interconnection between the rest of the components. The Worksite app provided an overview of the operation to the First Responder (FR) teams’ response to the incident. As both components are software based and FE is backend solution we examined the participation of other components in the SST such as boots (to provide vital signs of the FRs), uniform (interconnect with the boots), and K9 vest (provide live feedback of the operation).

The SST provided the opportunity to test, demonstrate and collect feedback regarding new functionalities of the WOA (including changes based on previous FRs feedback during the first FSX). Also during this SST, it was the first time that the gas sensor was integrated and the map zone rating was visualised in the COP providing this extra layer of information about the safety of operations. Issues regarding connectivity were addressed and the solutions were ready for the final demonstration at the 2^nd FSX.  

The End Users’ feedback and suggestions collected during SST#7 were taken into account to also improve the Expert Reasoning tool. In particular, it was enhanced by improving the existing alert rules and adding new rules. The existing alert rules were extended by adding different levels of severities and enriching the description of the alert messages. Additionally, more kinds of resources were integrated in the Expert Reasoning by incorporating the gas sensor measurements, and more boot situations of the First Responder. This entailed the extension of the ontologies, for representing the new resources, and the population mapping algorithms for mapping the new concepts to the Knowledge Base. To promote situational awareness, limits of time of period were set so that the alerts to be raised in a reasonable frequency and not to distract the Command and Control centre.

During SST#16, CERTH and the INGENIOUS partners successfully tested the improved Expert Reasoning. Specifically, they tested the alert rules related to the gas levels, and the boots’ FR status. With regards to the gas levels, they tested the gas alert rules by using as an input the measurements of Carbon Monoxide and the Ammonia of the real gas sensor. They tested that the alerts were sent successfully to the Fusion Engine, and finally visualised on the COP platform (figure 1) with the correct severity, urgency and description. They took constructive user feedback about how to improve the description of the gas rule alerts, and enhance also other aspects of the Expert Reasoning. For the final Full Scale eXercise (2^nd FSX), the final improvements in the Expert Reasoning were implemented, and the integration with the rest components was achieved.

End Users’ perspectives and experiences from using, testing and validating the INGENIOUS NGIT

Our partners in Ertzaintza were the responsible End Users to test and evaluate the solutions of this SST. After testing, they came to the conclusion that all the technologies have a possible functional application, at least for the police; however, they are also necessary for the other services involved in all kinds of emergencies, facilitating the coordination and knowledge of the situation in real time, especially of the most important value, people. The tests have shown the need to carry out more trials and multi-agency practices in conjunction with companies and technological entities (multidisciplinary and transversal work).

The development of these kinds of tools that facilitate speed and efficiency in responding to situations of danger to society must always continue to respect the fundamental rights and privacy of the individuals concerned. Technology is fundamental, but if we approach it only from the technological point of view, it is a cold and aseptic tool that could, in some cases, cause the rejection of society, not succeeding in advancing, but taking steps back.

Read about the results from the 1st round of SSTs and SST#7 & SST#8 for the testing and validation of the INGENIOUS Fusion Engine & Expert Reasoning, Worksite Operations App here.