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eu-LISA will organise a workshop entitled "Increasing the Efficiency of Hotspots: Handling Migratory Pressure through Practical Technological Solutions" on June 14th 2016 in Strasbourg, France.
In the European Agenda on Migration presented in May 2015, the European Commission introduced the so-called hotspots approach. The approach was designed to provide immediate necessary support to Member States who faced disproportionate pressures at the EU's external borders during the migratory crisis and entailed the coordinated collaboration of the Member States' authorities with EU Agencies on the ground. eu-LISA experts worked with colleagues from Frontex, EASO, Europol and Eurojust at the hotspot in Lesbos, Greece, in late 2015, providing technological assistance on topics in which they had specialised knowledge, in particular related to the recording of data in Eurodac and the overall use of the system. The joint endeavours of the EU Agencies and the Greek authorities, during the first stage of this project, resulted in an increase in the capacity of those working on the ground to deal with the influx of individuals needing to be enrolled into Eurodac, leading to both an easing of the backlogs in processing and an improvement in humanitarian conditions.
In the course of the work eu-LISA and its partners identified a number of areas in which processes could be made more efficient and effective. In particular, it was clear that more modern technological solutions could better support some of the ongoing processes. Considering lessons learned and given that migratory patterns change over time, the Agencies are also currently assessing how technologies could be better developed so as to be more helpful as demands and needs change. In order to advance this work, supported by knowledge and understanding of the state-of-the-art in developments in IT that could increase the efficiency of migration management, eu-LISA would like to convene relevant vendors working in this field for an industry workshop. As a centre of expertise in the field, eu-LISA will also utilise this opportunity to open the forum to other relevant participants, particularly its partner Agencies.
Organisation and context
The workshop "Increasing the Efficiency of Hotspots: Handling Migratory Pressure through Practical Technological Solutions" will be held on June 14th from 9.00 to 15.00 in Hotel Sofitel, Strasbourg, France. The event will provide an opportunity for industry to update on and discuss current or near-future solutions pertaining to the current border and migration challenges in Europe. Discussions will be open to all attendees and no bilateral meetings will be organised. The aim is to assemble and share thoughts; under no circumstances should the event be considered as a prelude or an advantage to eventual procurement exercises.
Format
The event will open with keynote presentations from EU Agencies who will introduce the various challenges that have been identified in recent work and that need to be overcome. Subsequently, vendors will have the opportunity to propose and discuss possible means to address the noted challenges through individual presentations and group discussions.
Participation and Logistics
In view of the above eu-LISA would like to call on all vendors with expertise of likely relevance to express their interest in attending the event. Attendees may have the opportunity to present their work and should indicate a willingness to do so in their registration request. eu-LISA will select presenters from those submitted based on the relevance of the topics proposed and the expertise of the proposing companies. Capacity is limited and eu-LISA reserves the right to select attendees based on their areas of expertise and knowledge and their likely relevance to the proposed discussions. The Agency will not be in a position to cover any costs associated with attendance at the event.
Please express your interest to eu-LISA by 09 June 2016 by completing the online registration form. In your response, please include the reference to your specific area(s) of expertise. Should you also be interested in providing a presentation to all attendees, please indicate this and suggest the topic.
For further information on matters related to the content of the workshop, please contact externalaffairs [at] eulisa [dot] europa [dot] eu (externalaffairs[at]eulisa[dot]europa[dot]eu).
For further information on matters related to the logistics of the workshop, please contact eulisa [dot] workshop [at] newstravel [dot] eu (eulisa[dot]workshop[at]newstravel[dot]eu).