ATHENA

Athena was a €5.4m project led by West Yorkshire Police that aimed to make use of new communication methods (mobile applications, social media) to support efficient and effective two-way communication and enhanced situational awareness for citizens, first responders and those in command and control in response to major crisis incidents. Athena developed best practice guidelines for communicating crisis information using new tools and technologies while simultaneously developing mechanisms for data collection, processing and visualisation. A complementary mobile application supported two-way communication and information sharing between citizens and first responders.

The use cases varied from handling earthquake response and weather and environmental disasters to marauding terrorist attacks and management of public disorder. CENTRIC led the creation of the communication guidelines, a large-scale crisis classification taxonomy, a data processing engine and a situational awareness dashboard. The outcomes of Athena informed the development of the Security Communications and Analysis Network (SCAAN).