Representatives from the SPARROW project had a significant presence at the Evidence for Policy in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Summer School 2024, held on 26-27 September 2024, at the University of Vienna. The SPARROW team delivered a Masterclass on cybersecurity incidents, blackouts, and energy disruptions as emerging disasters, presenting cutting-edge insights and techniques to handle these challenges effectively.
Led by KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence, including Assistant Prof. Mathaios Panteli and Research Lecturer Dr. Christos Laoudias, the Masterclass also featured expertise from the SPARROW project partners Mr. Steve Gadsdon from First Response Solutions (UK) and Mr. Marios Stavrou from the NGO Reaction Youth for Prevention (Cyprus). The session attracted more than 20 participants from diverse backgrounds, including European universities, international organizations, first response organizations, and local authorities.
The Masterclass aimed to provide participants with new knowledge on how to tackle cyber-attacks and other energy disruptions as emerging disasters, to introduce new insights on how related stakeholders behave and operate during emergencies and promote knowledge transfer among them to facilitate open discussion and debate on how to prioritize emergency response efforts in case of physical and cyber emergencies in an interactive way.
Combining theoretical knowledge with practical exercises, the session featured a mock tabletop exercise based on a main scenario with four sub-scenarios. Participants tackled incidents involving trapped individuals, flooded facilities, and rescues from swift waters, caused by severe rainfall and the overflow of Nicosia’s main river. The scenario also included the river’s swift waters breaching the fencing around the central distribution station of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) in Nicosia, triggering a citywide blackout. To further intensify the crisis, EAC became victim of multiple cyber-attacks, preventing power restoration. This power outage left traffic lights inoperative, resulting in severe traffic congestion throughout the city.
The Masterclass was a unique opportunity to showcase the SPARROW project, which addresses challenges and crises identified in critical infrastructure resilience, that arise from disasters (natural and human-made) and digital breakdowns. SPARROW is an ambitious project which aims to enhance the resilience of EU societies and empower first responders through the development of a digital twin platform and emergency response technologies.
The Summer School was organized by the European Commission and the Civitas Soteria consortium (ICF and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna) on behalf of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO). It attracted over 80 participants including researchers, policymakers, first responders, fire services, and practitioners, from across Europe.
More info about the School: https://civil-protection-knowledge-network.europa.eu/news/third-edition-evidence-policy-drm-summer-school
