IB Consultancy

Current Events Report 7: CBRN Threats and the Arab Spring

Anna van den Boogaard — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:44:38 +0000

Since the popular uprising against the autocraticregime of Tunisian President Ben Ali in December 2010, a variety of countries in the Middle East and North Africa have experienced large scale demonstrations and protests. More than a year later, the results are mixed. Autocratic governments in Tunisia and Libya have been overthrown, the Egyptian president was forced to resign and whilst new elections have been held in Tunisia and Egypt, the internal situation in Libya remains unstable. Meanwhile, in Syria, large scale demonstrations, followed by government oppression and escalating violence, have pushed the country towards civil war.

Although the so called ‘Arab Spring’ has been generally welcomed, some doubts and concerns about future political developments remain. An important question is whether or not the transformations will lead to new CBRN threats or affect existing ones.

Read the full report

CBRNe Europe 2012 Light, 21-22 May 2012, The Hague

Anna van den Boogaard — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:17:51 +0000

IB Consultancy is proud to announce our first annual CBRNe Europe event. This conference and demonstration will take place on the 21^st and 22^ndof May 2012 at The World Forum in The Hague. CBRNe Europe will be held in parallel with the final demonstration of the REACT project.

These two days will bring together experts, end users, policymakers and industry who specialise in the field of CBRNe and response. The event will host speakers from the EU, related FP7 projects, innovative SMEs and other companies; the framework will provide a forum for sharing experiences, best practises and ideas to ensure resilience capabilities are enhanced and readiness is maximised.

The agenda of the first day will address key developments in the field of CBRN Threat Analysis followed by a panel discussion led by the experts. During the afternoon session the Safety Region Haaglanden and the Dutch Fire Department will perform a live demonstration in which the ground-breaking products developed in the Dutch REACT project will be used. Financed by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Municipality of The Hague, the project aims to enhance the resilience of the International Zone in The Hague against CBRNe incidents. This live demonstration will provide the attendees with an exclusive look at how the products developed in the REACT project work in practice.

During the second day, speakers from industry and the EU will provide attendees with an expert view on CBRNe countermeasures. Main themes during the

morning session will be CBRNe Command and Control, Pioneering Filtration Systems and Detection and Modelling. Furthermore, attendees will be provided with instructive presentations on the current CBRNe national and EU research and development projects. In the afternoon the focus will be on Police and CBRNe response when high-level national, regional and international speakers will give their views. During the closing discussion, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their thoughts with the audience and speakers.

Alongside the two day conference and demonstration an exhibition will take place. This will offer excellent access to companies from the field of CBRN who will be showcasing their products. Moreover the REACT consortium and partners will be present to answer all your questions regarding the project and the new product development. Moreover, during the exhibition, demonstration and drinks reception on both days ample opportunity will be offered for attendees to network and build business relationships.

To celebrate the launch of this new annual conference, attendance will be free of charge and will include lunch and a drinks reception. However, the number of seats islimited to 150. To secure your participation please register on our Events website

For further enquiries please contact Rianne de Vries at Rianne@ibconsultancy.eu

What: CBRNe Europe 2012 light and REACT Demonstation

Location: The World Forum, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Date: 21^st and 22^ndof May 2012

Time: both days from 09.00 till 17.30.

CBRNe Awareness Course

Anna van den Boogaard — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:18:27 +0000

As a part of the REACT project, IB Consultancy developed and organised a CBRNe Awareness Course at the World Forum in The Hague. The World Forum, The Hague´s leading conference and exhibition venue, is a project partner of the REACT project.

During the course the operational staff of the World Forum was given an introduction to the world of CBRNe. IB Consultancy provided the participants with an understanding of different types of terrorists, methods of terrorism, and the use of CBRNe weapons. More importantly, the programme provided its participants with the skills needed to reduce, prevent, and react properly to possible CBRNe incidents within the World Forum.

The course was taught by Rutger Gaasbeek, expert in the field of CBRNe terrorism, and Wiebe Bijl. For more information about the IB Consultancy CBRNe Awareness Course and our other services and products, feel free to contact us.

IFREACT kick off meeting

Anna van den Boogaard — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:48:50 +0000

The start of the FP7 Security Research project IFREACT was marked with the project kick off meeting held on 16-17 January in Erkrath, Germany, hometown of project partner Bluecher, manufacturer of CBRN protective clothing.

The next three years the IFREACT consortium, led by the French end user SAMU and IB Consultancy, is committed to develop an innovative Personal Protected Equipment (PPE) system, addressing the real protection needs of its typical users, both with regards to the level of protection against Chemical, Biological and Radiological threats, as well as its total capacity.

Within the project IB Consultancy acts as a co-coordinator and will contribute to defining end user requirements by performing a threat analysis and organising a workshop with end users in Prague this spring. Next to that, IB Consultancy will develop a tool that allows end users and procurement staff to select the best PPE system for the mission of the first responder. IB Consultancy will also support CBRNe World as a dissemination partner of the project.

More information on the IFREACT project can be found here.

Research into Improvised Explosive Devices on Ships

Anna van den Boogaard — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:45:15 +0000

European Commission DG MOVE has commissioned a consortium of IB Consultancy, Explosive Learning Solutions (ELS) and RAND Europe to conduct a study concerning Measures to Detect and Deter the Bringing of Improvised Explosive Devices on-Board Passenger Ships and Ro-Ro Ferries. Passenger ships and Roll On-Roll Off (Ro-Ro) ferries represent an attractive and accessible target for terrorism and attack with Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). When compared to numbers of passengers carried by civil aviation, marine vessels can have similar or greater confined congregations of personnel at risk. The indirect economic or political effects of an attack on passenger ships or Ro-Ro ferries could be considerable nationally or regionally..

The European Union places a particular emphasis on avoiding by all appropriate means shipping accidents involving Ro-Ro passenger ships and resulting in loss of life. Persons using Ro-Ro passenger ships and crew employed on board such vessels throughout the European Union should have the right to demand the same level of safety regardless the areas in which ships operate.

Objectives of the Study are to:

Assess the effectiveness of the preventive measures introduced at ports, port facilities and ships to deter or detect the carrying of IEDs on board of passenger ships or Ro-Ro ferries and, based on this assessment;
Propose an approach to identify, support and promote the best prevention strategy.

The Study will take more than a year to complete and is expected to report in mid-2013.

Season’s greetings from IB Consultancy

Ilja Bonsen — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:00:20 +0000

The IB Consultancy Team wishes you a happy 2012!

We look forward to working with you again in the New Year and meeting you at one of our events.

The IB Consultancy team

Current Events Report 6: Iodine-131 as yet another example of a CBRN threat to the EU

Anna van den Boogaard — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:35:52 +0000

Early in November 2011, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that very low levels of Iodine-131 (I-131) were detected in the atmosphere above at least six EU Member States. Later that same month, the IAEA notified that it had “most probably” identified the Institute of Isotopes in Hungary as the source of the radiation. In a reaction towards this allegation the director admitted a leak was found at the Budapest-based Institute. However, according to him it is “extremely unlikely” that the Institute

of Isotopes was the source of relatively high levels of I-131 traced in the EU countries. The exact cause of the release is still under investigation by the IAEA.

I-131 is a radioactive form of Iodine and is produced by the fission of uranium atoms during operation of nuclear reactors and by plutonium (or uranium) in the detonation of nuclear weapons. It has a half-life of about eight days and is also used in medicine to diagnose and treat disorders of the thyroid gland, as this gland easily absorbs iodine. Exposure to large amounts of I-131 is dangerous to human health. In the weeks after the Fukushima disaster in March 2011 I-131 was measured on the US West Coast. In Europe, I-131 was detected after the Chernobyl disaster took place in 1986. It is important to mention that the levels traced in November 2011 are extremely low compared to rates observed after the Chernobyl tragedy.

Read the full report

CBRNe Asia NOT prohibited

Anna van den Boogaard — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:13:09 +0000

This news item is a response to publications send by a UK based events firm. Unlike their communication would suggest, CBRNe Asia is not prohibited. At the request of the Thai government, Asia premier CBRNe event has been moved to 3-7 September 2012. If you would like to participate as a delegate, or sponsor the largest and most prestigious CBRNe event in Asia, please visit www.cbrneasia.com.

For more information on the court proceedings, please find a letter from Stassen and Kemps Advocaten here, which explains the court ruling. Finally, IB Consultancy management and staff, do not wish to spend more time on this nonsense. We have promised our clients, delegates, speakers, delegations from all over the region and all our other friends to organize Asia’s premier CBRNe event: CBRNe Asia 2012. This event will take place on September 3-7 2012 in the Plazaa Athenee in Bangkok, Thailand. With over 40 sponsors, more than 50 speakers, delegations from already 4 countries, 2 days of conference and 2 days of exercise plus a hosted workshop it is truly Asia’s premier CBRNe event, and we look forward to welcoming you to Bangkok!

EDA Strategic Research Agenda for Human Factors

Anna van den Boogaard — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:52:55 +0000

The European Defence Agency has appointed a consortium of IB Consultancy and the UK based companies Explosive Learning Solutions and QinetiQ to develop a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) and a roadmap supporting the implementation of the SRA for the Capability Technology Group ESM04 of the EDA.

The CapTech ESM4 Human Factors Strategic Research Agenda covers both Human Factors and CBRN aspects. The SRA will provide a clear vision which will be shared by governmental and non-governmental members of the CapTech ESM4 group and will serve to define the future requirements for Human Factors research. This by prioritising Human Factors research projects in terms of their urgency and their impact on future defence capability.

The study will deliver a Strategic Research Agenda and roadmap and will be based on objective analysis through the following deliverables. Firstly, the SRA introduces the field of Human Factors by providing an overview of existing civilian and military Human Factors research. Secondly, based on the output of the Human Factors overview and considering current and forecasted military needs, the consortium will identify and prioritise relevant R&T areas to be included in the SRA for Human Factors. Finally, following the development of the SRA for Human Factors, roadmaps for each area of Human Factors application will be developed to describe how the SRA may be implemented.

The project will start in December 2011 and run for 6 months.

IB Consultancy announces new date for CBRNe Asia 2012: September 3-7 2012

Anna van den Boogaard — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:05:44 +0000

The conference program, venue and speakers have not changed, neither has the two day exercise. This week, we had two events, that caused us to move the event. First, as you are probably aware of, Thailand has been hit by extreme floods. The Thai government services and departments that will participate and run the exercise, have been occupied with these flooding’s over the past period. These operational requirements for their emergency staff have seriously interfered with the proper preparation of the exercise. Since both the government of the Kingdom of Thailand and IB Consultancy, are committed to demonstrate to you and to the delegates a top quality exercise, we have decided to move the event to a time when this can be facilitated.

This week, we also concluded that the legal base for the event would be more supportive later this year based on proceedings received from the Court in The Hague which strengthens the movement of the event to September. It is for these reasons, that we decided to move the event to the new dates. Any hotel bookings made at the Event Hotels, can be changed at no costs.

In addition to moving the event, we bring some additional news as well. We are happy to confirm a number of new high level speakers:

Minister for Interior Mr.Yong’yoot Wichaidit of the Kingdom of Thailand will open CBRNe Asia 2012,
Matthew Foster, Regional liaison officer for the WMD Directorate, FBI
Professor Ha Van Nhu – Head of Department of Disaster Management, Hanoi School of Public Health
Professor Le Trung Hai – Vice Director in Surgery, University Hospital 103, Hanoi

IB Consultancy is proud to partner with the government of Thailand, the European Commission, Interpol and many others to make CBRNe Asia 2012 a success. We look forward to welcoming you in Bangkok!

For more information please visit our events website