SAP Research demonstrates next generation disaster response system
Sydney, Australia — SAP’s Executive Vice President – Head of SAP Research, Prof. Dr. Lutz Heuser, today outlined a vision for ‘The Web Based Service Society in 2019’ during a keynote address to the CeBIT eGovernment Forum.
Prof. Dr. Heuser showed how collaborative social networks among enterprises, public organisations and individuals will combine by 2019 to achieve specific societal goals. These networks, enabled by the Internet of Services, will compose and deliver value-added services, facilitate mediation between members and allow for flexible business model implementation and transformation.
SAP’s vision for a Web Based Service Society and the Internet of Services builds on the availability of fast and reliable networks, which is of particular relevance given the Australian Federal Government’s commitment to a National Broadband Network, as announced by Prime Minister Rudd and Senator Conroy on April 7, 2009.
Australia plays an important role in SAP’s global research and development program. The SAP Research Centre in Brisbane is one of the key drivers of research into the next-generation of the Internet applications, developing SAP’s vision for the Internet of Services, which is focused on the delivery of channels for new services and entirely new business models, and the Internet of Things, which relates to the ways in which the Internet can reach out to the world of physical things. These research fields address the needs of many industries and sectors.
The keynote presentation also focused on SoKNOS, an internationally recognised public security research initiative, which aims to develop concepts for governmental and private entities that are valuable in the handling of disastrous events. SAP recreated a virtual flooding disaster scenario during the CeBIT Australia show to demonstrate the capabilities and benefits of innovative IT support in managing a crisis.
Henning Kagermann, Co-CEO of SAP, defined how important information technology can be in connection with large-scale disasters, explaining, “Managing an all hazards approach to major emergencies and disasters, necessitates greater cross agency preparedness, information sharing, as well as a more collaborative and coordinated response and recovery. The smooth cooperation of the police, fire departments, and rescue workers requires innovative solutions operating through the most modern information technology.” It is exactly these future solutions that the SoKNOS research project is pursuing.
The SoKNOS (Service-Oriented Architectures Supporting Networks of Public Security) research project is focused on the development of future security solutions. SoKNOS is a collaboration between public authorities, private enterprises, and universities. It is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and led by SAP.
SoKNOS develops systems and solutions that help shorten and automate the emergency response structuring phase, the phase after the occurrence of a disaster. The proposed Australian research program that is currently being put together for the 12th round of the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) funding model will focus on the development and testing of concepts that support cross organisational collaboration and service delivery in real-time between local, regional, national and international organisations while engaging communities. It will consider a number of challenges, including climate change and resource scarcity.
“We are only just beginning to tap the potential of the Internet as a service delivery and collaboration tool,” said Prof. Dr. Heuser. “Research into the convergence of the digital and physical world is an area of focus for SAP. In the context of public security, this means connecting physical assets, such as emergency response vehicles, to the Web and creating a single technology platform which spans the emergency services, relevant Government agencies and private enterprises across multiple jurisdictions. This platform would facilitate collaboration between multiple organisations in the area of Public Security. Ultimately, the goal of SoKNOS is to improve decision making, reduce response times, enable multi-stakeholder collaboration and reduce costs.”
While SoKNOS is still a vision for the future, SAP already offers a broad Public Security product portfolio. SAP and Business Objects are delivering value in core process areas for Public Security, which presents an opportunity of growth for SAP. SAP provides a systematic, all-hazards approach that enables governments, businesses, and critical infrastructures to interact in order to achieve both agility in prevention and preparation and resilience in response and recovery – to ensure the security of a community. Using SAP solutions, government agencies can better coordinate communication across local, regional, and national levels and geographic boundaries.
Public Security is a market segment in which the combination of SAP and Business Objects solutions is particularly important. Uniting SAP’s industry solutions with the partner eco-system and SAP Research enables SAP to meet and respond to the future security and safety reality.
SAP Research focuses on six key research fields touching upon different aspects of technological, societal and business change, they are: The Internet of Things; The Internet of Services; Business Grids; Next Generation Applications; Software Development; and, Empowering End Users. The SAP Research Centre in Brisbane is one of the fourteen innovation centres for SAP globally.
Prof. Dr. Heuser joined SAP in 1999. Prior to his appointment at SAP, he was director of the European Research Organisation at Digital Equipment Corporation. Lutz Heuser is also an Adjunct Professor at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane as well as an honorary Professor at the Technical University of Darmstadt.
The following organisations are members of the SoKNOS project:
- SAP AG
- B2M Software AG
- Berlin Fire Department
- Cologne Fire Department
- German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence
- DHI-WASY GmbH
- German Police University
- ESRI Geoinformatik GmbH
- Fraunhofer IESE
- Fraunhofer IGD
- itelligence AG
- ontoprise GmbH
- Rutgers University (CIMIC)
- Technische Universitaet Darmstadt (TK, KOM)
- Technische Universitaet Dresden (GIS)
- Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Muenster (IfGI)
