Launched in May 2014, DRIVER+ (Driving Innovation in Crisis Management for European Resilience) is a project funded under the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission, whose main aim is to cope with current and future challenges due to increasingly severe consequences of natural disasters and terrorist threats, by the development and uptake of innovative solutions that are addressing the operational needs of practitioners dealing with Crisis Management.
There are many types of disasters that crisis management (CM) professionals have to deal with today. Hazards change, both for natural and man-made reasons – climate change being a well-known example of the latter. Vulnerabilities change, for reasons ranging from the establishment of settlements in new areas to societal evolution affecting people’s ability to cope with crises. Interconnectedness changes because of increased connectivity in the technical domain, for example the power transmission system, and in the socio-cultural domain as cross-border communities become increasingly important.
DRIVER is a unique multi-national project, working across many sectors, looking to find ways to implement a new approach to improving crisis management in Europe.
DRIVER+ focuses on augmenting rather than replacing existing capabilities, and brings together researchers, developers and practitioners from across Europe. The project has three main objectives:
- Develop a pan-European Test-bed for crisis management capability development;
- Develop a well-balanced comprehensive portfolio of crisis management solutions;
- Facilitate a shared understanding of crisis management across Europe.
