Meldkamerplein, since its inception in 2017 as a joint knowledge platform for developers and builders of control room products is now growing significantly. Eight founding partners from the control room market came up with the formula to use a network for knowledge sharing to respond even better to the demand of professionals for optimal support of their processes. An initiative In the past year, more and more players have joined this initiative: developers of monitoring control room equipment, information and arbitration systems, geo-information control room equipment and more. The permanent core of the eight founders was expanded during the eRIC-exhibition of 2022 expansion to 28 participants, and in 2024 as many as 40 providers stood together in the Meldkamerplein, with a total area of 1,000 square meters.
Knowledge and connection
"No single supplier can, on its own, build and equip a complete control room or crisis center
build and equip," stated Roeland Staal, community manager of the Meldkamerplein. "That requires different technical and facility disciplines, each with their own knowledge and expertise. All the components they provide, hardware and software, must fit together like puzzle pieces fit together to achieve an effectively functioning control room. By jointly forming a network platform, connecting providers and sharing knowledge and innovations, we can respond even better to the ever-changing needs of our customers."
The partners of this Meldkamerplein community collect those needs during periodic interactive meetings with users from the control room and crisis management sector. People from the field and knowledge institutions then discuss experiences and scenarios and address current issues and needs in the hubs of emergency response and crisis management.
The power of AI tools
Such as the application of artificial intelligence to even better support. Roeland Staal sees AI as a 'big topic' in the control room world, because smart AI tools can make the work processes of dispatchers and crisis managers more effective and thus lead to faster and better decision-making and more effective management of operations.
"We see an increasing need in the industry for smart technology that helps dispatchers operators and crisis teams and take the burden off them. The reason is that the information flows that feed people in their work are becoming increasingly extensive and complex, as crises and threats are also becoming more complex. We see crises with greater societal impact, such as failure of vital facilities, extreme weather and even threats of military conflict. The partner landscape for crisis management is becoming broader, and all those parties have their own information needs and also generate information, which must be shared with others in the chain needs to be shared."
The trick, according to Staal, is to filter and organize, which they really need for their perception, judgment and decision-making process. "This is where AI tools can provide excellent support. Not to take over processes, but to enable the scarce human capacity in control rooms and crisis centers to do their work better. An important topic to discuss with our customers and and show what innovative solutions we can offer together."
Instability and NATO summit
As at previous editions, Meldkamerplein will invite several leading speakers to connect control room practice and the providers of control room technology. Among them are former MIVD director Pieter Cobelens and former National Police Chief Willem Woelders will speak at the Meldkamerplein. In a scenario, Cobelens describes the effects of political instability on the sense of security in the Netherlands and Willem Woelders tells in his contribution about his experiences with the NATO summit. An operation of superlatives and certainly a textbook example of information-driven action.
Roeland Staal: "Crisis management is a complex and dynamic process. No disaster crisis or calamity can be dealt with exclusively by one service. It is always a interplay of services and processes. The challenge for all crisis partners is on the one creating a jointly shared picture of the situation, so that all partners are "in the same movie are". On the other hand, not everyone needs to have exactly the same information either, because the information needs are task and process dependent. An administrative policy team has different information needs than the operational team directing the immediate tactical deployment and a functional service like the Department of Public Works or a water board needs different information than ambulance services or hospitals. in that sorting and ordering, AI with smart algorithms be an important supporting tool. I expect artificial intelligence to enter the coming years in the control room and crisis management domain will be increasingly embraced."