On Thursday 9th November 2017, Dr. Su Anson from Trilateral Research participated in the Fire Related Research and Developments (Re17) Conference in Birmingham, UK. The conference, supported by the Institution of Fire Engineers and hosted by West Midlands Fire Service brought together practitioners and researchers from across Europe and the United States to discuss fire releated research.
Dr. Anson gave a presentation on the two-year European Commission funded ResiStand project which aims to identify new ways to improve the crisis management and disaster resilience capabilities of the European Union and individual Member States through standardisation. The presentation focused on research conducted with the project’s End-User Community, which includes first responders, civil protection and law enforcement agencies and non-governmental agencies. Surveys, desk-based research, and workshops held across Europe (Helsinki, Brussels, Berlin, and Rome) have been used to identify and validate end-user standardisation needs, and to understand the drivers and constraints to end-user participation in standardisation activities. The research findings show how standardisation needs overwhemingly focus on the preparedness and response phases, rather than mitigation and recovery. Furthermore, standardisation needs predominantly focus on common procedures and data sharing. Drivers to participating in standardisation activities include perceived cost savings, early development in technical state-of-the-art, preserving the quality of a product, and increased knowledge of developments. Perceived constraints to participating in standardisation activities include standards lacking user friendliness, high standardisation costs, complex standardisation procedures, and conflict between industry and end-users. ResiStand Deliverable D3.3 provides detailed information on the findings of the research undertaken with end-users.
“The conference provided an excellent opportunity to share the preliminary findings of research undertaken with ResiStand’s End-User Community and to meet and engage with researchers and practitioners from across Europe”, said Dr. Anson.
