Heads of Regional Innovation and Expertise Centres visit The Hague Security Delta

On 9 October 2018, the heads of the 10 Regional Innovation and Expertise Centres (RIECs) and the Ministry of Justice and Security visited The Hague Security Delta for an innovation exploration on subversive crime and technology. The heads attended the meeting to strengthen their insight in public-private partnerships for security innovations and the latest innovations that are suitable for combatting subversive crime.  

The delegation of RIEC heads were accompanied by members of the Ministry of Justice and Security that coordinate-tackle subversive crime on a national level and work in close cooperation with the regions, among other, in the allocation of the subversive crime fund that was announced (in Dutch) on 12 July 2018. 

After a short introduction of HSD’s role in security innovation and public-private partnering three organisations presented and discussed their innovations in combatting subversive crime:

• The Institute for Financial Crime presented their public – private cooperation of banks, financial institutes, notaries and accountants as the platform to cooperate with to prevent and combat financial – economic crime and fraud.

• PublicSonar showcased their innovative method to monitor open sources such as social media (for instance Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) for safety and security related topics. The RIEC representatives discussed whether this system could help generate more real time and enriched profiles of subversive crime on a regional level.

• TNO subsequently elaborated on their so-called Scientist on the Job programme in which embedded scientists assist tactical teams that intervene on subversive crime. The programme operates in the field of behavioural analysis and influence, cooperation in integral teams, and system analysis on a phenomenon and network level.

The exploration concluded with an open discussion regarding the applicability of the content in the day-to-day operations of the RIECs and on a national level, follow up has been planned.