Round Table „Actual Trends in Security, Stability and Resilience of Energy Critical Infrastructures“ – December 1st 2017
At a time of global change, which is reflected in all areas of human activity, challenges related to the security, stability and resilience of energy critical infrastructure are one of the key and existential challenges for today’s society. This general perspective framed the presentations and discussions of the round table. A comprehensive view of the issue, description of the threats and a preview of the solution architecture was introduced by a new member of the TPEB CR – Deloitte Advisory s.r.o. Ing. Jan Šefčík. Ing. Vladimír Vlk, Vice-Chairman of the Energy Regulatory Office, very clearly described the main tasks of the ERO, not only from the point of view of current domestic issues, but also with regard to the ongoing regulation in relation to the EC, whether it is an autumn package or another legislation. Additionally, he also mentioned the necessity of communicating with TPEB CR and other stakeholders actively involved in the analysis and solution process.
In the second part, the experts’ gathering discussed a wide range of topics including the security of power supply related to cyber security and the protection of energy critical infrastructures, the role of science, research and innovation in the process of increasing the security of critical energy infrastructures, strategic development (political) and institutional levels in relation to strengthening the stability of electricity supply, security of critical infrastructure and the role of SMEs in the area in question. Further discussions concerned the plans for dealing with crisis situations of disruptions to large-scale electricity, gas and heat supply.
Individual speakers from the large infrastructural companies drew attention to the examples of their companies and institutions, how seriously they work with these threats, evaluate their timeliness, take measures to prevent or them. ČEPS a.s. Security Director PhDr. Martin Bílek and the Security Director of ČEPRO a. s. Ing. Jiří Novák expressed necessary seriousness of access to the problem and mix of solutions not only in the sphere of cyber, but also sophisticated physical protection, restarting of systems, etc.
Last but not least, the representatives of TPEB CR introduced the current research and innovation projects that the Platform has been working on in national, European as well as non-European contexts.
It can be concluded that the topics of the round table and the discussion over them has confirmed that TPEB CR, which is a scientific and non-profit organization, operates in the spirit of this mission and thus fulfils it.
TPEB CR has proudly joined two consortia applying for the projects within prestigious H2020 program Secure Societies Protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens.
The first project called Pan-European Network of Practitioners in the field of Critical Infrastructures (EU-CIRP) intends to further stimulate cooperation among the relevant CIP stakeholders while focusing on an evaluation of recent efforts in the area and searching for strategic and standardisation solutions for existing challenges. The above-mentioned project creates a strategic opportunity to involve TPEB members in follow-up project activities related to critical infrastructure protection in a wider context with the expected 100% support of the consortia costs. Therefore, a very intense involvement of members in the next project period can be expected. In the coming weeks, we will be happy to introduce you to these projects and find your possible engagement. The potentials of the projects can also be used in your strategy, which we will be intensively consulted with you. The very strong consortium of the project includes the following members:
| Participant No * | Participant organisation name | Country |
| 1 (Coordinator) | Center for Security Studies (KEMEA) | GR |
| 2 | Croatian Network of Urban Security Stakeholders (CIC) | CR |
| 3 | European Organization for Security (EOS) | B |
| 4 | European University of Cyprus (EUC) | CY |
| 5 | European Hospital and Healthcare Federation (HOPE) | B |
| 6 | Ministry of Interior (MoI) | BG |
| 7 | Spanish Technology Platform on Industrial Safety & Security (PESI) | ES |
| 8 | Scottish Government (Critical Infrastructure Resilience Unit) | UK |
| 9 | Technology Platform Energy Security (TPEB) | CZ |
| 10 | International Union of Railways (UIC) | F |
| 11 | Ente Nazionale Energia Atomica (ENEA) | I |
| 12 | Romanian Association for CIP and Related Services (ARPIC) | RO |
| 13 | Polícia Judiciária of Portugal (PJ) | PT |
The second project – BehavVer – Behavioural Patterns Verification for Prevention of Physical Penetration using Identity Theft intends to develop BehavVer software (the name is the abbreviation for Behavioural Patterns Verification) to prevent identity theft based on video surveillance of physical behavioural patterns (i.e. how the person usually behaves), especially when other identity control mechanisms are outmanoeuvred by the attacker or not applicable. In this case the consortium involves the following partners:
| Participant No | Participant organization name | Acronym | Country |
| 1
(Coordinator) |
ZILINSKA UNIVERZITA V ZILINE | UNIZA | Slovak Republic |
| 2 | SOFTWARE COMPETENCE CENTER HAGENBERG GMBH | SCCH | Austria |
| 3 | FRAUNHOFER-INSTITUTE FOR PRODUCTION SYSTEMS AND DESIGN TECHNOLOGY (IPK) – AUTOMATION DEPARTMENT | FH | Germany |
| 4 | UNIVERSITA CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE | UCSC | Italy |
| 5 | UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER | UU | United Kingdom |
| 6 | GENERAL TADEUSZ KOSCIUSZKO MILITARY ACADEMY OF LAND FORCES IN WROCLAW | MALF | Poland |
| 7 | TECHNOLOGICAL ENERGY PLATFORM | TPEB | Czech Republic |
| 8 | ISEMI – INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, N.P.O. | ISEMI | Slovak Republic |
| 9 | THE POLISH POLICE | LEA1 | Poland |
| 10 | MUNICIPAL POLICE ZLIN | LEA2 | Czech Republic |
| 11 | ISRAEL NATIONAL POLICE | LEA3 | Israel |
| 12 | LANCASHIRE CONSTABULARY | LEA4 | United Kingdom |
| 13 | HAMPSHIRE CONSTABULARY | LEA5 | United Kingdom |
| 14 | SUSTAINABLE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SOLUTIONS | SCJS | United Kingdom |
| 15 | VIRTE, A.S. | VIRTE | Slovakia |
TPEB CR became member of the consortium of Center for Security Studies (KEMEA) and partner of the new Horizon2020 Project proposal: Pan-European Network of Practitioners in the field of Critical Infrastructures (EU-CIRP)
The EU-CIRP is a pan-european network of Practitioners (end-users) in the specific field of Critical Infrastructure Protection aiming to facilitate communication and interaction of relevant stakeholders from across Europe bringing them together in order to:
- analyze the outcome of European research and innovation projects in the field of CIP with a view to examine the relative potential to uptake or industrialise their results;
- identify capability gaps in security of critical infrastructures and common challenges between sectors and facilities;
- evaluate RDI solutions that could fill in the related capability gaps and elaborate ways to improve their performance in the future, and;
- indicate standardization requirements and priorities that may strengthen the uptake of R&D.
The objective of the envisaged proposal is to develop an active interface between the R&D community represented by Academia, Research Organizations and European Security Industry from one side and the practitioners in the field of critical infrastructure protection, including operators, managers, consultants, businesses, governmental organizations and national or regional authorities from the other side. The purpose of this interaction will be to interact as regards challenges and R&D solutions that may enhance the security and resilience of the European critical infrastructures and to share among CIP stakeholders a joint security culture that will allow to prepare for and recover from any hazard they might face.
TPEB CR is the partner of the current project Resilience : Dynamic Resilience Evaluation of Interrelated Critical Infrastructure Subsystems
Project Resilience : Dynamic Resilience Evaluation of Interrelated Critical Infrastructure Subsystems is supported under the Program Security Research Czech Republic 2015-2020 of the Ministry of the Interior of the CR. TPEB CR is a member of the implementation consortium. The subject of the project is a research in critical infrastructure (CI), focusing on the dynamic evaluation of a correlation in significant European sectors (energy, transport, and ICT) and their components. A description of the synergic effect of the failure in CI systems and their influence on the prediction of the impact and the determination of the dynamic assessment of critical infrastructure resilience. The practical part of the project is targeted at establishing a scheme for identifying key elements of land transportation CI, CI energy sector, and ICT in the context of their correlation and in relation to emergency preparedness of the territorial units. Below is a link to the project website.
