Impact Coalition Safety & Security (ICSS): Shape the Future of Safe and Smart Cities

The Impact Coalition Safety & Security (ICSS) urges security partners to better utilise digital opportunities and technological development within cities, by using each other’s networks, experiments and innovation forces. By working together as partners, we can combat threats and sometimes prevent them, innovate more efficiently and scale up. But this requires steering the direction.

This request has been done last Tuesday, 28 September, during the international CCR Summit, where governors of municipalities, policy makers and several stakeholders met each other. The summit focuses on synergies between stakeholders, policy makers versus operations and collaboration with multiple partners within the security domain. For ICSS, this was the ultimate moment to call these partners to collaborate. In addition, the website www.veiligesmartcities.nl has been launched, during a presentation of alderman Wim Willems, who represented ICSS at the network dinner. 

ICSS 

The Impact Coalition Safety & Security is a collaboration between municipalities, police, knowledge institutions, companies, VNG and HSD Office. This coalition is a part of the broader Smart Society- movement. In April 2020, this coalition became ratified with an intention agreement ‘Impact Coalition Safety and Security for Smart Society’ in which the municipalities of The Hague, Amsterdam, Almere, Eindhoven and Apeldoorn lead this collaboration. 

Collaborate, sharing knowledge and innovate

Purpose of the Impact Coalition is that municipalities and the police learn from each other regarding security in public space, by using smart society solutions. This includes for example crowd management, deployment of drones for security and safe, conditional sharing of data between government and citizens. The approach of these three topics is shared during the CCR Summit. Smart sensors and algorithms are approaching cities, drones are already there and the number increases, and everyone possesses data that can be shared. But this does not automatically lead to smart and responsible security in cities, this requires a common task. Keeping cities safe and making smart secure.

HSD Office supports the coalition with knowledge from HSD Community and functions as program bureau for the coalition. 

Participate

Partners within ICSS choose for the development of and the participation in projects that:

• help municipalities to secure area-oriented with help of Smart City applications (Crowd Management, information-driven security, securing and protecting of public space)
• make sure that Smart City applications are secure and can be scaled up safely and can be integrated within existing environments (cybersecurity), and through 
• working on conditions for future development (carefulness, transparency, control over data, privacy, ethical commitment).

Initiatives to enhance security in cities can connect to existing projects and programmes initiated by the Impact Coalition, for exchange and ‘learning by doing.’ For more information to participate, consult the website www.veiligesmartcities.nl