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IMPETUS: towards improved urban safety and security

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How can traffic and public transport be managed more effectively in a city, while controlling pollution, ensuring the safety of users and at the same time, taking into account ethical issues related to the use of data and mechanisms to ensure its protection? This is the challenge facing IMPETUS, a €9.3 million project receiving funding of €7.9 million from the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union[1]. The two-year project launched in September 2020 will develop a tool to increase cities’ resilience to security-related events in public areas. An interview with Gilles Dusserre, a researcher at IMT Mines Alès, a partner in the project.

What was the overall context in which the IMPETUS project was developed?

Gilles Dusserre The IMPETUS project was the result of my encounter with Matthieu Branlat, the scientific coordinator of IMPETUS, who is a researcher at SINTEF (Norwegian Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research) which supports research and development activities. Matthieu and I have been working together for many years. As part of the eNOTICE European project, he came to take part in a use case organized by IMT Mines Alès on health emergencies and the resilience of hospital organizations. Furthermore, IMPETUS is the concrete outcome of efforts made by research teams at Télécom SudParis and IMT Mines Alès for years to promote joint R&D opportunities between IMT schools.

What are the security issues in smart cities?

GD A smart city can be described as an interconnected urban network of sensors, such as cameras and environmental sensors; it offers a multitude of valuable big data. In addition to better managing traffic and public transport and controlling pollution, this data allows for better police surveillance, adequate crowd control. But these smart systems increase the risk of unethical use of personal data, in particular given the growing use of AI (artificial intelligence) combined with video surveillance networks. Moreover, they increase the attack surface for a city since several interconnected IoT (Internet of Things) and cloud systems control critical infrastructure such as transport, energy, water supply and hospitals (which play a central role in current problems). These two types of risks associated with new security technologies are taken very seriously by the project: a significant part of its activities is dedicated to the impact of the use of these technologies on operational, ethical and cybersecurity aspects. We have groups within the project and external actors overseeing ethical and data privacy issues. They work with project management to ensure that the solutions we develop and deploy adhere to ethical principles and data privacy regulations. Guidelines and other decision-making tools will also be developed for cities to help them identify and take into account the ethical and legal aspects related to the use of intelligent systems in security operations.

What is the goal of IMPETUS?

GD In order to respond to these increasing threats for smart cities, the IMPETUS project will develop an integrated toolbox that covers the entire physical and cybersecurity value chain. The tools will advance the state of the art in several key areas such as detection (social media, web-based threats), simulation and analysis (AI-based tests) and intervention (human-machine interface and eye tracking, optimization of the physical and cyber response based on AI). Although the toolbox will be tailored to the needs of smart city operators, many of the technological components and best practices will be transferable to other types of critical infrastructure.

What expertise are researchers from IMT schools contributing to the project?  

GD The work carried out by Hervé Debar‘s team at Télécom SudParis, in connection with researchers at IMT Mines Alès, resulted in the creation of the overall architecture of the IMPETUS platform, which will integrate the various modules of smart city as proposed in the project. Within this framework, the specification of the various system components, and the system as a whole, will be designed to meet the requirements of the final users (cities of Oslo and Padua), but also to be scalable to future needs.

What technological barriers must be overcome?

GD The architecture has to be modular, so that each individual component can be independently upgraded by the provider of the technology involved. The architecture also has to be integrated, which means that the various IMPETUS modules can exchange information, thereby providing significant added value compared to independent smart city and security solutions that work as silos.  

To provide greater flexibility and efficiency in terms of collecting, analyzing, storing and access to data, the IMPETUS platform architecture will combine IoT and cloud computing approaches. Such an approach will reduce the risks associated with an excessive centralization of large amounts of smart city data and is in line with the expected changes in communication infrastructure, which will be explored at a later date.  

This task will also develop a testing plan. The plan will include the prerequisites, the execution of tests, and the expected results. The acceptance criteria will be defined based on the priority and percentage of successful test cases. In close collaboration with the University of Nimes, IMT Mines Alès will work on innovative approach to environmental risks, in particular related to chemical or biological agents, and to hazard assessment processes.

The consortium includes 17 partners and 11 EU member states and associated countries. What are their respective roles?

GD The consortium was formed to bring together a group of 17 organizations that are complementary in terms of basic knowledge, technical skills, ability to create new knowledge, business experience and expertise. The consortium comprises a complementary group of academic institutions (universities) and research organizations, innovative SMEs, industry representatives, NGOs and final users.

The work is divided into a set of interdependent work packages. It involves interdisciplinary innovation activities that require a high level of collaboration. The overall strategy consists of an iterative exploration, an assessment and a validation, involving the final users at every step.

[1] This project receives funding from Horizon 2020, the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (H2020) under grant agreement N° 883286. Learn more about IMPETUS.

Projet MAESTRIA AVC

A European consortium for early detection of stroke and atrial fibrillation

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The European project MAESTRIA, launched in March 2021 and set to run 5 years, will take on the major challenges of data integration and personalized medicine with the aim of preventing heart rhythm problems and stroke. How? By using artificial intelligence approaches to create multi-parametric digital tools. Led by Sorbonne University and funded by the European Union to the tune of €14 million, the project brings together European, English, Canadian and American partners. An interview with Anne-Sophie Taillandier, Director of Teralab, IMT’s Big Data and AI platform, which is a member of the consortium.   

In what health context was the MAESTRIA developed?

Anne-Sophie Taillandier – Atrial fibrillation (AF), heart rhythm disorder and stroke are major health problems in Europe. Most often, they are the clinical expression of atrial cardiomyopathy, which is under-recognized due to a lack of specific diagnostic tools.

What is the aim of MAESTRIA?

AST – MAESTRIA (for Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence for Early Detection of Stroke and Atrial Fibrillation) aims to prevent the risks associated with atrial fibrillation in order to ensure healthy ageing in the European population. Multidisciplinary research and stratified approaches (involving adapting  a patient’s treatment depending on his/her biological characteristics) are needed to diagnose and treat AF and stroke.

What technologies will be deployed?

AST – “Digital twin” technologies, a powerful data integrator combining biophysics and AI, will be used to generate virtual twins of human heart atria using patient-specific data.

MAESTRIA will create digital multi-parametric digital tools based on a new generation of biomarkers that integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and big data from cutting-edge imaging, electrocardiography and omics technologies (including physiological responses modulated by individual susceptibility and lifestyle factors). Diagnostic tools and personalized therapies for atrial cardiomyopathy will be developed.

Unique experimental large-animal models, ongoing patient cohorts and a prospective cohort of MAESTRIA patients will provide rigorous validation of the new biomarkers and tools developed. A dedicated central laboratory will collect and harmonize clinical data. MAESTRIA will be organized as a user-centered platform that is easily accessible via clinical parameters commonly used in European hospitals.

What is the role of Teralab, IMT’s Big Data and AI platform?

AST – The TeraLab team, led by Natalie Cernecka and Luis Pineda, is playing a central role in this project, in three ways. First of all, TeraLab will be involved in making heterogeneous, sensitive health data available for the consortium, while ensuring legal compatibility and security.

Second, TeraLab will build and manage the data hub for the project data, and make this data available to the team of researchers so that they can aggregate and analyze it, and then build a results demonstrator for doctors and patients.

And last but not least, TeraLab will oversee the data management plan or DMP, an essential part of the management of any European project. It is a living document that sets out a plan for managing the data used and generated within the framework of the project. Initiated at the start of the project, this plan is updated periodically to make sure that it still appropriate in light of how the project is progressing. It is even more necessary when it’s a matter of health data management.

Who are the partners for MAESTRIA ?

AST – MAESTRIA is a European consortium of 18 clinicians, scientists and pharmaceutical industry representatives, at the cutting edge of research and medical care for AF and stroke patients. A scientific advisory board including potential clinician users will help MAESTRIA respond to clinical and market needs.

It’s an international project, focused on the EU countries, but certain partners come from England, Canada and the United States. Oxford University, for example, has developed interesting solutions for the processing and aggregation of cardiological data. It is a member of the consortium and we will, of course, be working with its researchers.

We have important French partners such as AP-HP (Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris Hospital Authority) involved in data routing and management. The project is coordinated by Sorbonne University.

What are the next big steps for the project?

AST – The MAESTRIA has just been launched, the first big step is making the data available and establishing the legal framework.

Because the data used in this project is heterogeneous – hence the importance of aggregating it – we must understand the specific characteristics of each kind of data (human data, animal data, images, medical files etc.) and adapt our workspaces to users. Since this data is sensitive, security and confidentially challenges are paramount.

Learn more about MAESTRIA

Interview by Véronique Charlet