Join us for the upcoming International Workshop on Continuous Software Evaluation and Certification (IWCSEC 2022) to be held in conjunction with the 17th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (ARES 2022 – http://www.ares-conference.eu).

When?
August 23 – August 26, 2022

Where?
Vienna, Austria.

Find out more including call for papers at: www.ares-conference.eu/workshops-eu-symposium/iwcsec-2022/

Steinbeis EU-VRi together with HRV Swiss and Noovle International signed a strategic collaboration agreement on innovative lifelong learning.

The goal of the initiative is to promote educational collaboration through continuous training courses in the area of business digitalization tailored to the requirements of technology-driven companies and businesses. Under the agreement, the partners will develop dedicated training courses for companies that require retraining their internal staff for future needs and challenges across business functions.

Steinbeis EU-VRi, a leader in supporting the country's critical infrastructure, will develop and provide respective courses and graduate advanced curriculum degrees. According to professor Jovanović, the CEO of EU-VRi "this choice is in line with the mission of EU-VRi, which, through continuous training, provides the professional updating of the technical skills in critical infrastructure-related companies and organizations especially those active in the German-speaking countries".

Alberto Ciardelli, Lead Trainer, Axelos SME (Subject Matter Expert) and consultant of “NOOVLE SPA società Benefit”, promoter of the initiative representing HRV.SWISS, a company in the Canton of Ticino authorized to provide training and related certifications (ATO: Accredited Training Organization), says: “Today, more than ever, training is an essential factor in regional competitiveness strategies. The distinctive feature of this partnership agreement among international institutes is to promote the value of the courses provided and the White Papers drawn from the experience of the students' best theses, guaranteeing the skills acquired by the participants".

Based in Switzerland, NOOVLE International will play the role of a strategic technological partner of the initiative. The company specializing in the supply of cloud projects and solutions, NOOVLE International is adept in the technological development of applications, IT procedures and prototypes and in the consulting and management of IT data. Through its highly qualified staff, it will contribute to the implementation of training courses by providing information on practical and applied aspects related to the use of new technologies, offering experience, testimonials, case studies and workshops.

"We are very proud to provide our contribution in an area, such as training, which is decisive for transforming technology into an enabling element: NOOVLE International has always accompanied universities and all its customers in the process of technological innovation with structured consulting and communication plans and training, parallel to the technical development phase”, stated Valentino Benicchio, General Director - NOOVLE International Sagl.

The first edition of the Executive Master in Lean Digital Business Transformation is expected to launch in October 2022.

To Steinbeis EU-VRi profile

To HRV Swiss profile

The new Horizon Europe program follows on from the current Horizon 2020 program and aims to promote research on important societal issues such as health, the environment and traffic. 

Horizon Europe will incorporate research and innovation missions to increase the effectiveness of funding by pursuing clearly defined targets. Leveraging a 3-pillar structure, Horizon Europe imbibes Excellent Science, Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, and Innovative Europe with a horizontal layer for widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area (ERA).

With Health, Civil Security for Society, Digital Industry and Space, Climate, Energy and Sustainability at the core of Horizon Europe program, Steinbeis R-Tech and EU-VRi along with its partner network will be at the frontier of knowledge in the fields of applied AI, Sustainability, Risks & Resilience (advanced material, infrastructure), Life-cycle (cost) analysis (LCA).

For more information, Click here

Authors: A. Jovanović, P. Klimek, O. Renn, R. Schneider, K. Øien, J. Brown, M. DiGennaro, Y. Liu, V. Pfau, M. Jelić, T. Rosen, B. Caillard, S. Chakravarty & P. Chhantyal

Abstract:

In the moment of preparation of this paper, the world is still globally in grip of the Corona (COVID-19) crisis, and the need to understand the broader overall framework of the crisis increases. As in similar cases in the past, also with this one, the main interest is on the “first response”. Fully appreciating the efforts of those risking their lives facing pandemics, this paper tries to identify the main elements of the larger, possibly global, framework, supported by international standards, needed to deal with new (emerging) risks resulting from threats like Corona and assess the resilience of systems affected. The paper proposes that future solutions should include a number of new elements, related to both risk and resilience. That should include broadening the scope of attention, currently focused onto preparation and response phases, to the phases of “understanding risks”, including emerging risks, and transformation and adaptation. The paper suggests to use resilience indicators in this process. The proposed approach has been applied in different cases involving critical infrastructures in Europe (energy supply, water supply, transportation, etc., exposed to various threats), including the health system in Austria. The detailed, indicator-based, resilience analysis included mapping resilience, resilience stress-testing, visualization, etc., showing, already before the COVID-19, the resilience (stress-testing) limits of the infrastructures. A simpler (57 indicator based) analysis has, then been done for 11 countries (including Austria). The paper links these results with the options available in the area of policies, standards, guidelines and tools (such as the RiskRadar), with focus on interdependencies and global standards—especially the new ISO 31,050, linking emerging risks and resilience.

Download the article at the following link: https://rdcu.be/b4I4q

How to cite this article: Jovanović, A., Klimek, P., Renn, O. et al. Assessing resilience of healthcare infrastructure exposed to COVID-19: emerging risks, resilience indicators, interdependencies and international standards. Environ Syst Decis (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-020-09779-8

The H2020 project is now completed, with a concrete proposal for the creation of a self-sustainable European-wide virtual Centre for risk management and safe innovation in nanomaterials and nanotechnology.

What is the EU project about?

The EC4SafeNano project objective was to build a distributed Centre of European organizations offering services for Risk Management and Safe Innovation for Nanomaterials & Nanotechnologies. EC4SafeNano aimed to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge on hazard and risk, and ‘fit-for-purpose’ risk management tools and strategies supported by measurement and control methods. The consortium comprises 15 partners from 11 European Member States with significant expertise on risk assessment and management, who already provide knowledge and technical services to public and private organizations, to industry and to public authorities and regulatory bodies.

What are the main outcomes?

• Mapping of the needs and resources available
• Fit-and-gap analysis tool to match the customer needs with the available resources, and identify uncovered or poorly-covered customer demand.
• Inventories of available tools, methods, training courses, standards and standard operating procedures (SOPs), guidance documents and best practices
• Catalogue of services: methods, guidance, studies, standards, training or  certification, helpdesk, support for the development of national expertise centres...
• Robust collaborative open structure and network, gathering and sharing the best available resources and knowledge from Europe and beyond, with a governance, a business model, and evaluation and update mechanisms and operating procedures.

What will be the benefit as a member of the EC4SafeNano Center?

• Access to the worldwide available information on institutes, projects and experts in the field of nanosafety and nanotechnologies
• Access to highly qualified services providers and a higher guarantee of the quality of the services provided thanks to a collective service review
• Opportunities to promote and participate in initiatives for harmonization of methods & services
• Active involvement at an early stage in the debate on highly strategic topics
• Enhanced opportunities to establish quicker contact with other partners and reach the critical mass on a given priority topic
• A bigger voice speaking to the institutions
• Reducing the effort and cost of development and harmonization at EU level of approaches for risk assessment & management in nanosafety

What are the services offered by the center?

• HELP DESK to create an efficient interface with external customers and facilitating access to technical information and the available Catalogue of Services
• PROVISION OF TECHNICAL EXPERTISE AND SCIENCE-BASED ADVICE to questions (simple and complex demands, review of services) raised by stakeholders, including regulatory bodies and competent authorities
• ANNUAL JOINT PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES (JPA) to organize activities, collectively agreed by the members of the Centre, such as interlaboratory studies, expert group meetings on high-priority topics selected by members, position papers, guidance documents, etc.
• DEVELOPMENT AND PROMOTION OF HARMONIZED SERVICES by the creation and promotion of EU certification of marked services and the training of service providers.
• REGULAR PROMOTION OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTRE to provide an overview of research projects, standardisation activities and other relevant initiatives in the field of nanosafety in Europe and beyond.

Role of EU-VRi

Besides the support to the coordinator (INERIS) for the project management, monitoring and reporting, the main contributions of EU-VRi were the analysis of the needs of the civil society, the collective development of the business model and business plan of the center and the development of the online version of the catalogue.

More information on the project, the public deliverables and the current Catalogue of Services can be found at the project website http://ec4safenano.eu/. The site also posts an open invitation for research labs or companies providing NanoSafety services to join the future Centre and/or promote their resources and expertise through the Centre.

Duration: 36 Months / Partners: 15 / Programme: Coordination & Support Action in H2020 / Budget-EC Grant: approx. 2-2 Million Euro

The project, consisting 16 consortiums focuses on developing biobased and easy-to-recycle self-reinforced composites based on PLA fibers. Dr. Parva Chhantyal from Steinbeis Advanced Risk Technologies (R-Tech) is responsible for the workpackage that evaluates the environmental and economic impact of the project. Congratulation to the whole team!

Review the following two-page flyer for more details:

Metallographie in Qualitätssicherung und Schadensanalyse - Flyer

Metallography in quality assurance and damage analysis 

This book provides a brief introduction to materials science and describes the influence of manufacturing and processing on metal microstructure. The location and orientation of samples to produce polished sections from is a critical parameter which affects the conclusions of each and every metallographic analysis. This is where targeted action must be taken to ensure that manufacturing and operational defects in metal components are reliably detected.

Evaluating the acceptability of irregularities in a metal sample requires proper preparation, experience in macroscopic and microscopic evaluation of textures and knowledge of the relevant standards and guidelines. Numerous documentations and case studies exist to provide assistance in the practical procedure. The authors explain characteristic features of different types of defects and suggest optimized procedures or alternative preparation methods.

Assessing damage and material failures is a particularly difficult task for metallographers. The decisive factor for success is the correct analytical approach, the proper choice of the grinding position and its correct orientation. Practical instructions to tackle these task are presented and explained using practical, real life examples. A glossary of relevant terms is presented in the appendix to close gaps in knowledge in the adjacent fields of science, metallurgy and production engineering, so that the instructions for practical work presented in this book can put to use without consulting further literature.

Prior to the meeting, the participants spent the preceding week in Cologne, Germany, participating in course on the topics of resilience and smart cities, which was organized by the Steinbeis R-Tech Transfer Institute as part of Steinbeis University Berlin. Over the course of 10 years, the R-Tech group led by Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Jovanovic has worked with the Beijing Academy of Science and Technology on more than 14 strategic projects; this meeting provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on and discuss past, present, and future opportunities for collaboration.

The project, consisting 16 consortiums focuses on developing biobased and easy-to-recycle self-reinforced composites based on PLA fibers. Dr. Parva Chhantyal from Steinbeis Advanced Risk Technologies (R-Tech) is responsible for the workpackage that evaluates the environmental and economic impact of the project. Congratulation to the whole team! For more information, click here.

The ZDH-ZERT audit took place on February 7-8, 2019 and showed again that the Steinbeis Advanced Risk Technology Group and EU-VRi duly improves and complies with the requirements of ISO 9001 Quality Management. The audit has covered the areas of integrated risk management and industrial safety with multidisciplinary, global and holistic approach, including education and training, information providing, innovation, professional services and consulting, products and software, project management.

This standard is currently under development by ISO/TC (Technical Committee) 262 ‘Risk Management,’ which "develops international standards in the field of risk management to support organizations in all their activities including making decisions to manage and minimize the effects of accidents, disasters and faults in technical systems as well as response and recovery from major disruptive risks."

To learn more about the new ISO 31050 standard, visit: https://committee.iso.org/sites/tc262/home/projects/ongoing/iso-31022-guidelines-for-impl-2.html

Invitation for the Joint Final Conference
of the SmartResilience and SAYSO H2020 projects

April 15-17, 2019

Budapest, Hungary

The joint final conference of the SAYSO and SmartResilience projects will be hosted by the National University of Public Service in Budapest on April 15-17, 2019. The objectives of the joint conference are to present and discuss their respective outcomes as well as to discuss next steps! The conference will involve practitioners, developers, technology suppliers, standardisation and procurement specialists, as well as decision-makers to find the best ways to harmonise, integrate, and enhance the projects’ outcomes and achieve tangible impact at the European level.

If you wish to participate as a speaker, please contact us before January 31, 2019, at SAYSO-SmartResilience-Conference@eu-vri.eu.

The e-registration for all participants will open early 2019.

To be among the first informed, follow us on Twitter!

@SmartResilience and @SAYSO

Contributors and participants from other projects and institutions are welcome to attend.

We look forward to welcoming you in Budapest!

Kind regards,

A. Jovanovic & H. Burkow

on behalf of the SmartResilience and SAYSO Consortia

These events include:

December 2-6, 2018:

Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (USA) – Professor Jovanović will be sharing the following presentation related to SmartResilience:

Analyzing Interdependencies Among Infrastructures Based on Big Data and Resilience Indicators (Jovanovic AS, Klimek P)

December 4, 2018:

Second Project SAYSO Public Workshop, Brussels, Belgium

December 5-6, 2018:

Security Research Event (SRE) 2018, Brussels, Belgium

As stated on its website, WaterBriefing is "an information service, delivering daily news, company data and product information straight to the desks of purchasers, users and specifiers of equipment and services in the UK water and wastewater industry." The article describes SmartResilience's series of real-life based case studies, such as the FOXTROT case study focused on assessing the resilience of drinking water supply in Swedish cities.