FLYSEC results are published in IEEE Security and Privacy Journal
FLYSEC research results in the spotlight: featured in the newest issue of IEEE Security and Privacy peer-reviewed Journal March/April 2019 is the selected article entitled "Automated Decision Making in Airport Checkpoints: Bias Detection Toward Smarter Security and Fairness", which included work supported by FLYSEC project.
This constitutes a great success for FLYSEC and EU funded research as the publication kicks off a series of articles, while also inspiring the theme and cover for the issue of a most prestigious international scientific journal in security and privacy – along with (dedicating) the title of the issue to “Privacy and Automated Airport Screening! The honourable treatment of the article is indicative of the positioning of FLYSEC results and follow-up research in the centre of risk based security innovation.
The authors, Dimitris M. Kyriazanos, Konstantinos Giorgos Thanos and Stelios C.A. Thomopoulos NCSRD -IIT ISL Laboratory focused on on automated decision making emerging as the enabler for risk-based and smarter security in airports and other critical infrastructures, presenting the challenges in terms of ethics, privacy and the GDPR and the significant difficulties to overcome when applying solutions for monitoring the fairness, bias detection and refinement of intelligent analytics. The article concludes with the proposal of an innovative procedure for automatic evaluation of fairness and privacy of relevant security AI algorithms.
The FLYSEC Results in Brief article has been officially published on Cordis and is available in 6 languages!
"Today’s rigorous airport security measures are effective but can result in long queues, increased waiting times, passenger dissatisfaction and escalating costs. There’s a need for more efficient security with convenience, faster and more secure border crossings, and an enhanced passenger experience at airports. Improving the aviation security chain is one of the EU’s research priorities. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Airports Council International (ACI) have also joined forces to improve the journey from curb to boarding and realise their joint vision of smart security. The EU-funded FLYSEC project addressed the EU’s calls for better security and aligned with the roadmap and recommendations reflected in the IATA/ACI Smart Security programme."
FLYSEC successfully passes its Final Review by achieving remarkable results in innovation!
Τhe FLYSEC project, Optimising time-to-FLY and enhancing airport SECurity, addressed the European Union’s research priority for improving the aviation security chain and aligned with the roadmap and recommendations reflected within the IATA/ACI Smart Security programme, by facilitating the three main principles specified in Smart Security: strengthened security, increased operational efficiency and improved passenger experience. The ultimate aim of FLYSEC was to demonstrate the value of risk-based security in terms of efficiency of security checks and security check lines, uncompromised level of security along with passenger satisfaction and experience at the airports. The alignment between FLYSEC and the IATA/ACI Smart Security programme paved the path for the promotion of FLYSEC into a certified Smart Security implementation.
The European Association for Biometrics (EAB) Research Projects Conference (RPC) took place from the 24th-25th of September in Darmstadt, Germany for the fifth consecutive year. 17 EU research projects were invited, prominently including FLYSEC project, represented by the Project Coordinator, National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos”. Dr. Dimitris M. Kyriazanos presented the FLYSEC results and achievements in risk based security, elaborating on emerging opportunities and synergies with “on the fly” biometric technologies In the challenging EU border setting, including legal and regulatory framework, ethics and recent enforcement of GDPR.
With over 200 attendees throughout the Darmstad biometric week, the EAB-RPC provided a valuable, targeted platform for dissemination of the FLYSEC project results.
The FLYSEC Final Info Day and Cluster Meeting of Border Security Projects successfully took place on Thursday, June 28th 2018 at the Hotel Marivaux, Alfred Hitchcock Amphitheater, Boulevard Adolphe Maxlaan 98 B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.
The event provided insight on the FLYSEC project results and their alignment with the implementation of the joint IATA/ACI Smart Security programme, while contributing to the overall picture of the EU research portfolio and agenda by inviting key cluster projects in the relevant area of airport, border and risk based security paradigm shift.
ILA Berlin is the major space exhibition in Europe. 2018 ILA Berlin was the attraction of the international aviation industry. 1,100 exhibitors from 41 countries demonstrated their high-tech products, research and development projects. More than 180,000 trade and public visitors attended the leading aviation industry exhibition of innovations. Thus the German Airshow offers the perfect stage to present the research project FLYSEC. The central theme of the conference was "PNR and the risk based approach to aviastion Security" and was divided into two panels. The first panel will present current perspectives and results from science. In this panel FLYSEC presented itself with two speakers (Dr. Dimitris Kyriazanos, NCSRD and Dr. David Naveh, University of Luxembourg). The second panel deals with the practical application of the topic. The agenda for the conference can be found under Documents and Media in the Presentations section. After the conclusion of both panels there was a very lively exchange between decision-makers and experts from politics, administration, scientific research and end-users on current challenges and developments. We thank all speakers for their interesting lectures and listeners for the lively interest on this topic.
The final field test of H2020 project FLYSEC took place with great success at Luxembourg Airport from Feb 19tth – 22nd, 2018. Luxembourg Airport (IATA: LUX) is the main airport in Luxembourg. Previously called Luxembourg Findel Airport, due to its location at Findel, it is Luxembourg's only international airport, having served some 3.6 million passengers in 2017. A great achievement for the project and EU funded research, the FLYSEC system and applications were deployed and tested in the main operational terminal of the airport, offering end to end monitoring, security, innovative passenger services and C2 functions from the entrance, through the security checkpoint and up to the departure gates. The field test engaged actual LuxAirport Security Personnel and professionals, following step by step training on the FLYSEC system and components. With the final field test in Luxembourg Airport, FLYSEC successfully showcased an integrated implementation of IATA/ACI's Smart Security concept for the Airport security of the future.
Congratulations to all consortium members and many thanks to the Luxembourg Airport management and staff for an excellent collaboration.
At 11th July, 2017 FLYSEC was presented by European Aviation Security Center as part of a lecture and with a publication in the M-Sec Report 2017. The M-Sec Report condenses complex interrelations and outlines core aspects and tasks for the aviation sector. It serves as a topical compendium and companion for decision-makers, industry representatives and interested public audience as well as a conversation-starter for conference participants. In order to feature the most profound research and best possible analysis, Munich Airport cooperates with academic, political and public institutions worldwide on the compilation of the M-Sec Report. This one-day event gathers around 150 high-ranking German and international decision-makers from politics, the private sector and academia and offers a perfect platform to discuss key aspects of international aviation security. This exclusive and high-profile conference format provides room for interdisciplinary exchange and creates opportunities to discuss and develop praxis-oriented takeaways not only for the private sector, but also for political representatives.The M-Sec Report can be found under Documents and Media in the Scientific Publications section. The FLYSEC report starts on page 72.
During the week of 20th-24th February, 2017 the project partners met at Schönhagen Airport to set-up and integrate all technical components and software modules for a Proof-of-Concept.
A week of hard work was crowned with success! Four scenarios describing typical occurrences in an airport terminal were tested to the full satisfaction of the project partnership, the Project Officer and external Reviewer who attended the tests and guests from the German Federal Police.
The Assessors of the tests came to very positive conclusions as well.
This also includes the FLYSEC mobile app, which was found very useful by the first passengers who had the opportunity to try and also by the staff of security services on site.
The FLYSEC partners wish to thank the large number of movie extras, suppliers of technical equipment and the Airport Management and team who contributed to successful testing as well.
Furthermore, we thank all companies based on the airport for their understanding and patience regarding any disturbances due to noise and unusual trouble caused by our tests and movie documentation.
On 16 February 2017, around 300 experts met in Potsdam for the 9th Aviation Security Days, which this year were held under the motto "New threats to aviation security". The experts agree that the security situation requires constant adaptation and improvement of security measures, especially in view of the increasingly concrete dangers in Germany. "Existing and functioning synergies must therefore be expanded and kept up to date," said BDSW President Gregor Lehnert. The European Aviation Security Centers was able to represent FLYSEC as a part of a lecture in this circle of experts.
At 17th-18th January, 2017 FLYSEC had its Mid-Term Review Meeting at the Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission. The progress of the project was presented to the Project Officer and the external reviewer who is supporting the Commission services.
Nearly 50 Deliverables were reviewed and it was found that FLYSEC is well on track to achieve its objectives.
Attention was given to ease dissemination and exploitation of results of the EU restricted project. Furthermore, the future collaboration with the Stakeholders Advisory Group was discussed and an exchange of experiences with other projects in the sphere of “Secure societies – protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens” was endorsed.
At 23rd-24th November, 2016 FLYSEC was presented by EXODUS in a joint Workshop and Poster Session of the COncORDE and IMPRESS projects at the Public Safety Communication Europe conference in Athens.
At 27th July and 2nd August FLYSEC partners met at Schönhagen airport (ICAO code: EDAZ) in close proximity to Berlin.
Schönhagen airport is one of the most important general aviation airports in Germany and the largest in the new federal states. The airport is optimally developed for business aviation. In the category of aircraft up to 12 tonnes in maximum take-off weight (MTOW) Schönhagen is also becoming the most important alternative airport for the new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER). Schönhagen is not just an airport, but also a resource for attracting businesses, research, conferences, events, and innovative technologies.
FLYSEC partners and the airport management discussed opportunities to implement technical solutions developed by the project for testing and technical validation. It is intended to use parts of the airport administration building, conference centre and gastronomical facilities to perform testing from Autumn onwards.
FLYSEC partner ICTS Europe participted as an exhibitor at the British-Irish Airports EXPO at NEC Birmingham at 7-8 June 2016. The event is bringing together airports and suppliers to exchange experiences, to network and to support procurement.
At its exhibition booth, ICTS presented the FLYSEC project along with its core services.
Following to the first year of its duration, the FLYSEC consortium met in Tel Aviv at 18-19 May 2016 to introduce the achievements so far to the European Commissions Project Officer Tjien-Khoen Liem in its first Review Meeting.
It was assumed that FLYSEC is well on track. In the context of an applied trusted passenger concept, the potential of the FLYSEC airport app to increase passenger flow at an airport was demonstrated in a simulation. Consequently, FLYSEC will prepare testing of its integrated approach in the operational environment of an airport.
With respect to ethics, privacy and data protection, FLYSEC is following the non-discrimination principles as required by the directive 95/46EC.
The FLYSEC flyer has been published. It covers general information about the project, presents the FLYSEC System Architecture, the Overall Security Concept and the Secure Tunnels Scenario. The flyer is available for download in the documents section.
The FLYSEC project hosted the first Stakeholder Advisory Group meeting on the 19. February 2016 in Berlin. At the premises of the Embry-Riddle University, the SAG members discussed the FLYSEC Overall Security Concept, the embedment in the FLYSEC System Architecture and the Secure Tunnels Scenario. The project partners gained important expert input from the stakeholders, who contributed with insight of their experience and from practical guidance. The FLYSEC project would like to thank the SAG members for their participation and the fruitful discussion.
The second official FLYSEC consortium meeting takes place during the 16.-17. November 2015 in Athens. After the first 6 months of work, the partnership gathers to elaborate and discuss the status of ongoing activities in each work package and the results achieved so far. Each work package leader presents the plan for the next 6 months and presents the deliverables and milestones status as well as risks & issues. The workshop will be accompanied by selected members of the Stakeholder Advisory Group and will end with a concluding session and round table discussion.
The Stakeholder Advisory Group Workshop will be held on the 19. February 2016 in Berlin. More information on this restricted project internal workshop will follow at the beginning of January 2016.
The FLY-SEC project successfully took off with the official kick-off meeting that has been held on 10.-11. June 2015 at the premises of the National Center for Scientific Research “Demokriots” in Athens. Accompanied by the Project- and Financial Officer from the European Commission, all FLY-SEC partners presented their contribution and kick started the project work in all work packages by discussing the task distribution, the way ahead and next steps. The kick-off meeting has been followed up by a work package 1 workshop. The agenda and a list of participants can be found in the download area.
