Mission
The mission of the Research and Development Unit is to follow up on developments in research relevant for the control and surveillance of external borders and disseminate this information to the Commission and the Member States. This means that the role of the Unit is to be a link between the research community and the end-users within the Commission and the Member States. Relevant research is followed and assessed in a framework including operational concepts and threat developments, and the results are transferred to the Border guards and to the Commission. The Unit also assesses the need for further research related to border security and plays a role in forming the research programmes of the European Union.
Fields of interest
The fields of interest of the Research and Development Unit are very broad and include:
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maritime surveillance including radars and electro-optical sensors based on sea, land, air, and space platforms, as well as vessel tracking systems;
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land surveillance, including radars, electro-optical sensors and seismic sensors;
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detection systems, i.e. sensors for detecting humans and objects inside closed compartments;
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biometrics and electronic ID documents;
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systems for command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I);
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methodology for studies and assessment.
Activities
The Unit is deeply involved in the security research in the Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7). The Unit participates in the European Security Research and Innovation Forum (ESRIF) that will provide input for future research, as well as in the evaluation of proposals to FP7. This gives Frontex an opportunity to influence European research to respond to the needs of the border guards.
The Unit works in close collaboration with various providers of research and technology. Several projects are conducted jointly with the EU Joint Research Centre in Ispra. The Unit also follows relevant projects, e.g. MARISS and will follow the FP7 projects once they start.
The Unit also works in close contact with the main users of the research results. These users are mainly the European Commission, where the Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security develops and implements policy on border security, as well as the border guard authorities in the member states.
In order to assess the value of new technology and to establish priorities for the development of future capacities for European border security, the Unit conducts studies. The RD Unit is responsible for the methodology and for developing the analytical means to evaluate different alternatives, while experts from different organizations contribute with their expertise in technology, operations and threat developments. The studies result in a roadmap for how to build future capacities and also serve as a forum for experts from different fields to learn from each other.
To facilitate information exchange between border guard authorities, research institutes, universities and industry, the Unit is developing the BorderTechNet. This will be an Internet-based forum for exchange of ideas, but the network will also include physical interaction, including workshops.
