Aim of the project:

In cities, “soft targets” are public spaces such as shopping malls, gathering places, sports venues, transport infrastructure, i.e. potential, numerous targets located within an urban agglomeration and exposed to “low-level” attacks that strongly affect citizens.

The continuous progress of the Smart City, especially associated with the introduction of new technologies, brings increased efficiency, but also vulnerability to new threats and attacks on soft targets.

The S4ALLCities project aims to transform European cities to be more protected, prepared and resilient to physical and cyberattacks.

Steps:

• Adapt existing monitoring systems to state-of-the-art. Implement additional low-cost monitoring technologies and solutions that increase Smart City resistance and defensibility in cyber and physical space.
• Design and develop an open information sharing and management platform that provides relevant situational awareness and decision support for incident management.
• Influence collaboration between all stakeholders in crisis/security management, from urban planners to infrastructure operators, private service providers, security experts, IT specialists.
• Validate and demonstrate the effectiveness of the integrated S4ALLCities SoS in relevant environments by real public authorities/end users in three European Smart Cities (Trikala, Bilbao, Pilsen), which at the end of the project reached TRL-7 level for the whole S4ALLCities platform.

Results of the project:

Specialist from SITMP (Administration of Information Technology of the city of Pilsen) are currently working on the project. The sub-outputs include:

• Assuming responsibility for the city’s camera system in the area of image data mining (using AI to detect unwanted, critical conditions that are alerted to dispatchers in real time).
• Data mining from camera footage in the area of traffic/mobility (statistical data on the number of vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians which is used to adjust the data model of Pilsen traffic, planning, etc.).
• Implementation of gunshot detectors and panic screams (in cooperation with the Pilsen company Jalud Embedded, sensors are deployed for testing in the area of Cukrovarska Street and Americká Street). See more in the report of ČT.
• Testing of neural networks for deployment in urban environments (Israeli Briefcam, Czech Certicon, DataFromSky, GoodVision; the last two mentioned are focused on traffic data mining)
• Debugging and deployment of cameras with video transmission over mobile networks (4G/5G)
• Sharing of experience of our drone operators in the deployment of drones and other technologies in IZS – more here.
• Preparation of a scenario for Pilsen. (The pilot scenario in Pilsen focuses on a crisis situation with a mass gathering of people in a single area, including the evacuation of 15,000 people from the football stadium and its surroundings. The Viktoria Plzeň football stadium is owned by the City of Plzeň and can accommodate 11 700 spectators. The reality is that around 15 000 people can be concentrated in the stadium and nearby public spaces during big football matches. There are pedestrian zones and a park, the main train station and bus terminal, public transport stops (bus, tram, trolleybus), a road with transit traffic with 2 lanes in each direction and the historic city centre. The scenario will focus on dealing with a crisis situation at the stadium, either a terrorist attack or a leak of poisonous ammonia gas from the nearby Pilsner Urquell brewery.)

Official website S4AllCities

• higher safety
• property protection
• saving lifes

S4AllCities is an international project supported by the prestigious European research and innovation grant program Horizon 2020, which aims to reduce the vulnerability of public spaces, mitigate the consequences of terrorist attacks, increase public awareness and balance between improving security, functioning public spaces and citizens’ sense of freedom. The great news is that Pilsen is one of the three pilot areas where innovative solutions are being developed! Others are the Spanish Bilbao and the city of Trikala in Greece.

Pilsen

The Pilsen pilot simulates a bomb attack, followed by the evacuation of the FC Viktoria Plzeň stadium.

Trikala

The Trikala pilot (GR) revolves around the protection of the autonomous bus infrastructure, the park hosting the Trikala Christmas festival, and the municipal buildings.

Bilbao

The Bilbao (ES) pilot focuses on protecting crowds during massive gatherings for festivities in the city center and at the metro station.

The projects to be tested in these localities will be shared with other European partners and can be applied in other cities and metropolises.

Are you interested in more? Check out the project’s new web pages https://www.s4allcities.eu/.

We had an opportunity to present our innovative solutions in Pilsen at the 19^th EUROPEAN WEEK of REGIONS and CITIES.

What is the EUROPEAN WEEK of REGIONS and CITIES?

The European Week of Regions and Cities is an annual four-day event during which cities and regions present their innovative solutions to support their dynamic development and quality of life.

On behalf of Pilsen we presented our experience from HORIZON 2020 projects PoliVisu, DUET and S4AllCities.

It is great that Pilsen is invited to these European meetings and it has such a good reputation thanks to innovations and Smart city solutions in Europe.

Presentation 2021-10-13-euregionsweek_Pilsen-DUET.pdf

The European Parliament (EP) has launched a study mapping the use of artificial intelligence linked to urban development. We are proud that Pilsen is one of the cities mentioned in the study. This is thanks to projects Polivisu, DUET, S4AllCities (HORIZON2020 programme).

You can find the study in AJ here

Do you know the LIVING-IN.EU platform?

This international project aims to share positive experiences in the field of smart technological solutions from different areas of life and build a better future for 300 million Europeans.

And what is even better?

Pilsen is the only city in the Czech Republic that received an invitation to join this group, and we are very proud of it. The work of clever Westerners was noticed abroad!

Experts were attracted by the DUET project – the digital twin of Pilsen, but we have many other achievements in Pilsen at the European level. For example, we have been involved in the PoliVisu project within HORIZON2020 (a prestigious European grant programme focused on innovation) a few years ago. Polivisu project collects big data from traffic. Furthermore, we are also participating in S4AllCities, a project focused on public space and its vulnerability, and how to reduce it. It is also aimed at reduction of potential consequences of terrorist attacks, raise public awareness, and finding a balance among improving security, living in public space and citizens’ freedom.