The MIICT Project kicked off in Sheffield last month and the meeting was a huge success for everyone involved. The event involved many fascinating talks from migration experts, practitioners, developers and researchers from across Europe who all provided an excellent introduction to the project.

The MIICT project kick off conference – November 2018

MIICT (ICT Enabled Services for Migration) was conceived with the goal of designing, developing and deploying tools that address the challenge of migrant integration. In service of this goal, the project undertakes to co-create improved ICT-enabled services with migrants, refugees, public sector services, NGOs (Non-Governmental-Organisations) and other interest groups. By involving research-users at the centre of our approach we address the need to improve and customise the interfaces used to access key public services so that they better address the requirements of migrants and refugees. To achieve this MIICT has undertaken the development of a system to capture the specific socio-cultural, economic and legal contexts of migrants; information that can be shared with public authorities. In order to promote inclusion and reduce the potential for discrimination and bias, the system acts as a firewall, meaning only information pertinent to the specific task of the public authority is visible, removing elements such as gender, ethnicity and age in circumstances where they have no relevance, removing opportunities for discrimination and unconscious bias.

Previous research has established that issues of integration, discrimination, employment (and unemployment), incapacity support and education rank highly among migrants of varying demographics; including different age groups, genders, education levels and immigration status. Factors such as autonomy, perception, culture and history, as well as institutional constraints shape the dynamics and experiences of migrants and highlight the complexity of the migration process. This complexity is also said to indicate diversity in the migration and integration process as a result of the almost infinite combination of factors that may impact upon migrants’ experiences; influenced by the relationships between the economic, social, political and cultural factors that exist across a given juncture.

Using a co-design approach, MIICT will design, develop and deploy bespoke solutions that address; a) the management of migrant integration, b) the customisation of services to match migrants’ needs, and c) the need for sustained and improved inclusion of migrants. This evidence-based and inclusive software solution aims to improve labour market access, matching individuals with jobs and development opportunities based upon their specific and unique contexts.

MIICT is grounded in the principles of co- design. Through the participation of multi-disciplinary stakeholders MIICT will design, develop and deploy processes to ensure the identification of needs and requirements from both the perspectives of migrants, public sector services and NGOs. The collaboration of cross-disciplinary expertise from academia, industry and the private-sector in the development of digital-services will realise improved service delivery, demonstrated through a rigorous piloting and evaluation process conducted across the EU. MIICT aims to provide migrants and refugees with access to key public services, public agencies and NGOs with ICT enabled services and the necessary agency to take advantage of those services.

To find out more visit the MIICT website.

Over the weekend Auggmed 21st & 22nd April, Auggmed conducted a validation study at the West Yorkshire Police training facility in Carrgate.

This very busy weekend involved training 80 trainee police officers, either through the Auggmed platform in Virtual reality or a live scenario using actors, or a combination of these two forms of training. The officers were being trained on how to deal with a suspicious package for the first time. Each officer has been asked to complete three assessments: one before the training, one directly after the training, and one two months after training in order to test knowledge retention.

Data collected from this study will be analysed at a later date and will be used to perform a comparison between the different forms of training.

The final pilot of Auggmed took place in the Port of Piraeus Port, Greece, on the 23^rd of March. The aim of this pilot was to trial its Mixed Reality functionality. The platform has undergone many iterations throughout its lifespan, conducting pilots with end users along the way to obtain their feedback and improve the platform. The project had already conducted two trials with end users prior to this final pilot in Piraeus.

Auggmed aims to create a multimodal serious games platform for training first responders, with specific focus on training situational awareness and decision making. The platform aimed to develop three different modes: desktop; touch screen; Virtual Reality (VR); and Mixed Reality (MR). At the first stage of the project, the desktop and touch screen mode was trialled on West Yorkshire Police, the scenario used for the trial aimed to train firearms officers on how to respond to a firearms attack. The second stage of the project implemented VR, it was piloted at FGC head quarters in Barcelona. This pilot aimed to train the FGC security personnel on how to deal with a suspect package and SEM paramedics on emotional resilience and triage tagging in a post explosion scenario. The scenarios for each pilot were created specifically for the end users and were centred around their requirements.

Six scenarios were developed for the final pilot, these scenario’s involved searching the port for suspicious packages and weapons attacks. The security personnel needed to work together to respond to the situation in the best way possible. Whilst in Piraeus, Auggmed gained the attention of the local police, who showed interest in the platform, they were encouraged to participate in the scenario’s during the pilot, to allow them the opportunity to train and work together with the security personnel of the port, this was something they wouldn’t normally get the chance to do. Multi-agency training is one of the key advantages of the Auggmed platform, so this was an ideal opportunity to obtain feedback about this feature.

CENTRIC’s role in the pilot involved showing trainee’s how to use the platform and assisting with any technical issues. Overall the pilot was a success, and Auggmed received plenty of good feedback which can be used in the final review of the project.

For more information about Auggmed visit the project website.

As part of the Yorkshire Cyber Project, we have arranged events across Yorkshire and Humberside that are aimed at helping you to understand some of the risks you and your business face from an insecure cyber infrastructure or lack or cyber security planning.

At the events we will use scenarios that are based on real experiences of real businesses through which you will be able to test yourself and your organisation in tackling a multitude of problems. Some will be fairly simple, for example losing data either by a mislaid device such as a laptop, or something more immediate such as a ransomware attack.

Using a new interactive platform you will participate in an immersive experience to help you appreciate what you need to do back in the workplace to make your business safer online. The scenarios will be delivered through the platform allowing discussion and debate with colleagues.

We will have a team of experienced staff to help your learn and better protect yourselves.

All of the events are designed to help you learn and are not assessments, likewise the discussions amongst the participants are to help you learn about cyber security through credible experiences and case studies. You will also be able to speak to key stakeholders and have informative updates from a range of agencies.

Does this sound of interest to you? If so, sign up at our Eventbrite page now!!

These FREE events will be held in Barnsley, Beverley, Halifax, Harrogate, Scarborough and Shipley across April, May and June 2018.

Further information can also be found on our website or follow us on twitter.

We are excited to announce the launch of a new Yorkshire Cyber project. Yorkshire Cyber is a collaboration between CENTRIC and Stuart Hyde Associates to develop cyber resilience for SMEs across the Yorkshire and Humberside region.

Yorkshire Cyber, recognises that cyber-security support is often aimed at larger companies with conferences and events held in city centres. This reduces the opportunities for SMEs in smaller and more remote locations to receive the support and information that would assist them in building effective cyber resilience. Yorkshire Cyber will reach out to SMEs in a range of towns across Yorkshire by holding immersive, interactive events, using innovative technology, designed by CENTRIC, in order to fill this gap and extend the reach of essential support.

The project will engage directly with a number of SMEs from six locations across Yorkshire by:

• Sharing information on cyber-security such as prevention of cyber-attacks, loss of data and misuse of network as well as awareness-raising of indirect impact such as data protection liability;
• Interactive workshop events: a scenario simulation platform will enable business participants to experience and learn about attacks and consequences. Multi-way communication and knowledge exchange between participants and  organisers will bring an interactive discussion element to the event.
• Disseminating proactive awareness campaign material.

This is a small-scale, short-term project that involves CENTRIC and Stuart Hyde Associates Ltd. The Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Organised Crime Unit are actively supporting the project and will, along with local police cyber units, be involved with the events. The impact of the project will be maximised by linking with other cyber-security bodies and organisations; this is currently being developed.

Yorkshire Cyber has received Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF), which supports and develops knowledge-based interactions between universities / colleges and the wider world and which results in economic and social benefit to the UK. The project began in December 2017 and will conclude in June 2018.

Would you like to find out more about the project? visit the Yorkshire Cyber website or follow us @YorkshireCyber.