Cutting-edge technology to fight environmental crime

September saw the kickoff of EMERITUS, a project cofinanced by Europe’s Horizon research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 101073874 ). EMERITUS seeks a protocol for effective multiple-data-source investigation of waste-related environmental crimes.

The 3-year, €5-million project will be run by a GMV-coordinated consortium of 20 partners from 8 different countries.

EMERITUS aims to create a single-entry-point platform integrating state-of-the-art monitoring and analysis technology (drones, satellite data, virtual sensors, geointelligence data, etc), rounded out by a training program designed to hone the investigation and intelligence skills of environmental control authorities at both national and cross-border level.

EMERITUS’s environmental-authority training scheme centers on heading off and investigating crimes of this type, doing so by pooling theory and use-case-based simulation exercises in order to teach final users how to handle the platform itself and any related technology. Said exercises will validate the platform protocol by means of simulations based on 4 real heterogeneous use cases of growing complexity.

Platform and protocol validation will result in a set of evidence-based recommendations for environmental decision/policy makers.

As well as coordinating the project GMV is also responsible for databases and for carrying out use cases based on machine-learning image processing.