Collaborative Safety and Security News

On April 8, the state of Berlin, represented by Iris Spranger, Berlin Senator for the Interior and Sport, Police Vice President Marco Langner and State Fire Director Dr. Karsten Homrighausen, and Fraunhofer SIRIOS, represented by SIRIOS spokesperson Prof. Dr. Manfred Hauswirth, signed a joint cooperation agreement. This will enable public administration and science to cooperate even more closely and jointly develop, test and apply new technologies – for security situations specifically tailored to Berlin.

At its first annual conference, Fraunhofer SIRIOS presents itself as a technology and innovation platform for public safety. In the event center of Fraunhofer FOKUS in Berlin, transformed into a demo lab, around 140 guests, representatives from politics, security authorities, industry, associations, and research came together on October 19 to discuss the first results of Fraunhofer SIRIOS.

There are approximately 21 million people with a migrant background living in Germany. Comprehension problems between patients and medical staff due to language barriers pose a particularly significant challenge for all parties involved and increase the risk of treatment errors and ineffective preventive measures. HYKIST assists foreign language-speaking patients upon arrival at the emergency room as well as with over-the-phone translation during doctor-patient meetings through AI-assisted communication. In this way, complex medical issues and specialist terminology in particular can be better translated.

More public safety and security through simulations of urban infrastructure: In January 2022, the newly founded Fraunhofer Center for Security of Socio-Technical Systems SIRIOS in Berlin started operations. In comprehensive research and development projects, it bundles the competencies of four Fraunhofer institutes. The aim is to set up a research, test and training environment for security authorities, rescue services and operators of critical infrastructure over the next four years. There, complex security scenarios can be simulated, experienced virtually and tested in real life. The direct participation of citizens should also be made possible, e.g. by assessing the subjective sense of security.

KATRETTER has officially started at the Berlin Fire Department. After an intensive test phase of one year, the targeted training and networking of civilian helpers is to become an important supplementary component for emergency rescue. The helper system is based on the KATWARN technology and was developed by researchers of the Public Safety business unit of Fraunhofer FOKUS. It is a cooperation with the Berlin Fire Department and CombiRisk GmbH.

The digitization of the health care system forms the basis for initial approaches to the automation of standard procedures and care processes. However, the efficiency promises of automation are diverse and have so far been based on individual examinations. Fraunhofer FOKUS has just published a study on the state of the art of automation approaches for digital therapy applications.

Closer cooperation and long-term partnership for IT security and digital infrastructures agreed between the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems (FOKUS) and the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (HTW) Berlin.

Press release - Since a few days laboratories now have the possibility to report pathogen detection of SARS-CoV-2 electronically to the responsible health authorities. The electronic notification means that the information on SARS-CoV-2 infections is faster and more completely available to the public health authorities and that infection control measures can be initiated promptly to prevent further infections. Fraunhofer FOKUS, in coordination with the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG), is supporting the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in implementing the project.

The ERIC Innovation Fund project, in which Fraunhofer FOKUS is involved as a project partner, successfully concludes patient recruitment this March under a selective agreement with BARMER. The telemedical platform set up for ERIC is currently being expanded for the COVID 19 location center in Berlin.

Press Release - Important step towards European alert system: European Commission launches warning app.