mecom member of OASIS OPEN
How can digital standards improve and become more uniform? This is what the non-profit consortium OASIS Open deals with. We are pleased to be a member of OASIS with immediate effect. The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, OASIS for short, is an international organisation for the development of open interoperable and globally applicable standards for markup languages (SDO). The standardisation of alerts is another issue to which OASIS dedicates itself. For instance, the OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee (EM-TC) developed the standard Common Alerting Protocol (CAP). CAP is a simple but common XML format for the exchange of emergency warnings and public alerts via all kinds of networks. This standard enables the simultaneous distribution of consistent alerts via many different warning systems, which increases the effectiveness of the warning and simplifies the alerting process. For mecom, this is a very relevant topic close to our hearts. Consequently, we became a part of OASIS and our technical consultants contribute their expertise to the international project.
CP Conference Berlin
mecom at the Crisis Prevention Conference On March 30 and 31, 2023, the CP Conference took place in Berlin. The event is organised by the specialist portal Crisis Prevention, which focuses on topics such as hazard prevention, homeland security and disaster relief. The motto of the conference: “Crisis prevention as a task for society as a whole – only together are we strong enough”. Baha Kutup, Wolfgang Jurksch, Gudrun Menze, Michaela Weber and Inga Wilkens of mecom attended the conference in Berlin. We were particularly interested in all topics related to critical infrastructure and national crisis management. Another highlight was the lecture by Dr. Annett Schulze of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), our partner in the implementation of the MIRKKOMM project. In the context of risk and crisis communication, she spoke about topics such as uncertainties, transparency and trust. Our conclusion: exciting lectures, interesting encounters and abundant networking opportunities. A very successful event indeed.
BBK Specialist Congress
mecom at the BBK Specialist Congress “Research for Civil Protection” in Bonn What role do research and science play for civil protection? This was the topic of the Specialist Congress hosted by the German Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BKK) in Bonn from January 12 to 14, 2023. Our colleagues Inga Wilkens, Michaela Weber and Wolfgang Jurksch attended the event.The Specialist Congress “Research for Civil Protection” took place for the first time and was completely sold out. Not surprising, since a diverse and varied programme awaited the participants. We were looking forward in particular to the lecture on the topic of “Government risk and crisis communication”, scheduled for Friday morning. What is the state of risk and crisis communication at federal, state and municipal level? And which opportunities and optimisation potentials exist in this area? The speakers included: Alena Biegert of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Martin Löffelholz, Kathrin Schleicher & Johanna Radechovsky of Technische Universität Ilmenau as well as Hans-Jürgen Bucher, Bettina Boy & Johanne Mayer of Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT). They presented the first results of the MIRKKOMM research project for the optimisation of risk and crisis communication in Germany, in which mecom is involved as a practice partner.
Project MIRKKOMM
mecom is practice partner in the MIRKKOMM project, coordinated by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). How do people want to be informed by public authorities and the media in times of crisis? How well are they reached by messages from health care institutions? And how can communication become more comprehensible, effective and credible? These are the topical questions the MIRKKOMM research project deals with. The project is coordinated by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). MIRKKOMM thus addresses the optimisation of risk and crisis communication by governments, agencies, and health care organisations. We are very pleased that mecom was chosen to support the MIRKKOMM project as a practice partner. Apart from the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, five other institutions are involved: the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), the Technische Universität Ilmenau, the SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences, the Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) and mecom. The project is also supported by many associated partners such as the Robert Koch Institut (RKI), the German Federal Ministry of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH and the Advisory Board. Within the framework of MIRKKOMM, mecom’s team works in subproject 6, the creation of a study analysing the usability and further processing of alerts, recommended actions and instructions along the alerting process.
