“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”
― Sun Tzu
Market opportunities in the Intelligence, Security & Defence sectors are large and attractive. This statement is also true for the research area.
However, market fragmentation especially in the Security sector makes it hard for the industry to establish an effective business development strategy. Law enforcement agencies, customs authorities, firefighters, emergency medical services have different budgets, procedures, interlocutors and cultures from country to country.
ISA experts have a long experience in designing and implementing business development strategies for biotechnology and major pharmaceutical companies, based in Europe and US, developing medical counter-measures against CBRNe threats.
A non-exhaustive list of products is provided below:
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Antidote against cyanide
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Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
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Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)
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Anthrax immune globulin
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Anthrax vaccine
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Smallpox vaccine
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...
ISA also has experience in working with companies/manufacturers developing:
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Detection equipments
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CBRNe masks
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PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)
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Add-ons for PPE
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Decontamination equipment
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...
An effective business development strategy contains essential information, such as key strategic imperatives that we have identified for any country across the globe.
TOOLBOX
Our experts use tools developed by the public and private sectors to better prevent and respond to industrial accidents and terrorist attacks using conventional and non-conventional threats such as CBRNe.
INTELLIGENCE
The vast amount of available data represents at the same time a major opportunity and a tricky obstacle, as an increased volume of data at hand does not automatically imply an increased value or content of knowledge and may actually only introduce noise if not carefully handled and evaluated. Indeed, specific computation algorithms and techniques must be implemented to make sense of the data and reduce it to entities manageable by human minds.
ISA has developed a high-end methodology for Intelligence through an Open Source Intelligence system which is a result of decades of experience.
The expertise of ISA in the field of Intelligence, and in particular in its application to the CBRNe domain, is testified by its exploitation in several research projects such as MAGNETO, PANDEM, QUIXOTE, and in particular in the PREDICT project (Preparing for domino effects in a crisis situations), a Capability Project that has received funding from the European Union’s Framework Programme 7 European Security Research programme, under the call SEC-2013.4.1-2 - Better understanding of the cascading effect in crisis situations in order to improve future response and preparedness and contribute to lower damages and other unfortunate consequences.
RISK ASSESSMENT
Risk assessment is a fundamental precondition for effective risk management, as it represents the preliminary activity that identifies the risks, their entity and the acceptance level. The complexity of today’s environment, where activities are closely interconnected, and risk has taken on new dimensions (eg. geopolitical, societal, etc.), has made risk assessment a critical activity for organisations.
ISA has developed its own methodologies, built on the experience gained within the context of research projects funded by the European Commission DG HOME (e.g. PREDICT) and further consolidated through capacity building projects funded by the European Commission DG INTPA.
The methodology consists of specific steps:
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Assessment of the existing threats (and the likelihood of their occurrence)
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Assessment of the relative technical feasibility (RTF)
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Assessment of the impact (IMPACT)
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Evaluation of IMPACT and RTF uncertainties (Confidence Level)
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Recommendations regarding specific risk mitigation measures to be adopted.
The flexibility of its nature makes this methodology suitable and applicable to multiple sectors, thus allowing ISA to engage with diverse types of clients.
In addition, this methodology permits to identify the typical vulnerabilities of a given sector, while spotting the specific shortcomings of risks linked to the feature of the involved organisation. The risk assessment performed by ISA offers the client a comprehensive overview of the status of their organisation while illustrating possible solutions to manage the identified risks.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Several factors contributed to slow down Europe in exploiting its scientific, technological and industrial strengths. To overcome these shortcomings, the European Union has increased funding for research in this sector, by establishing specific programs:
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2004 - 2006 - PASR - Preparatory Action for Security Research
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2007 - 2013 - FP7 - ESRP - European Security Research Programme
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2014 - 2020 - H2020 - Secure Societies
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2021 - 2027 - Horizon Europe
ISA experts have taken part of several research projects since the creation of the first security research programme with STACCATO under the PASR, PRACTICE, MIRACLE, CWIT, IF REACT under the FP7, PANDEM under the Horizon 2020.
ISA team has gained excellent knowledge in proposal preparation, thus confidently navigating into proposal submission’s procedures. Leveraging on this expertise, ISA now offers advisory services to entities (private companies or public institutions) that are willing to enter the world of EU project management.
Advisory covers multiple areas, including:
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Identification of security and defence partners across Europe and beyond
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Preparation of administrative documents
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Writing proposal and draft budget for projects under 1M€ to +100M€
TRANSPORT SECURITY
15% of global traffic, all products and all modes of transport combined, concern hazardous materials. They provide fuel for boilers, fill the tank of gasoline cars, to manufacture industrially millions of pieces for everyday objects or hundreds of building materials, covering asphalt roads, developing new textiles, manufacturing fertilizers, treating patients, or treating drinking water and wastewater ... in a word, to meet daily needs.
The transportation of dangerous goods (TDG) concerns essentially three main product families: liquid petroleum products (75%), miscellaneous chemicals (20%) and gases (5%). If the need for the transport of these goods is clearly essential, it is essential to control the risks.
ISA has developed methodologies and training materials to support countries (operators and first-responders) with the challenge of the transport of dangerous goods. ISA has unique expertise based on years of capacity-building projects funded by the European Commission DG DEVCO under the EU CBRN Centres of excellence.
PROTECTION AGAINST CBRNe THREATS
The spread of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN) weapons and technologies has become a particular concern for global security after the end of the Cold War and the break-up of the Soviet Union, which was followed by intensified globalisation, expansion of instant global communications, higher education, travel and internet.
According to EC Migration and Home Affairs, “CBRN is an acronym for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials that could harm the society through their accidental or deliberate release, dissemination or impacts. There have not been many terrorist attacks with the usage of CBRN agents or materials. Nevertheless, incidents such as 1987 Goiana accident when mishandling of a radioactive source resulted in 4 deaths and significant contamination of 249 people or the Ebola crisis which since its inception in 2013 led to the death of more than 11.000 persons, show potential scale of the results of CBRN terrorist attack.”
From Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 to the UK, Spain and France attacks in the last years, along with the nerve agent VX attack at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017 and the Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown in 2011 (an accident) constitute examples of CBRN events raising alarm in the global community towards relevant malicious actions.
According to European Defence Agency (EDA), “Defence against Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) threats are of utmost importance for the protection of forces in theatre as well as citizens in the homeland. The European Defence Agency has developed activities aimed at strengthening European armed forces' capability to safely operate in a CBRN environment while contributing to civilian-led crisis response operations if needed".