Europol hosted the second edition of the Industry and Research Days this week, an event where selected private companies and research organisations presented their most innovative products to law enforcement practitioners from across the EU.
Featuring keynote speeches from Europol experts and live demonstrations of the latest technology by companies, this event brought Europol staff and national law enforcement practitioners up to speed with the latest technological advancements in the security market.
Europol invited technology providers to our headquarters to demonstrate their latest developments as a response to the needs expressed by the law enforcement community and matching criteria such as the innovative nature and relevancy to the users’ strong interest in compliance technology.
A selection panel composed of Europol experts from across the organisation and the Innovation Lab opted for 32 technology providers to showcase their technical solutions, tools, methodologies and processes related to six themes (robots, drones and other unmanned systems, deepfake detection, advanced biometrics for forensic analysis, AI Tools for target detection, identification, and tracking, OSINT analysis of private channels, cryptocurrencies, financial intelligence and cybersecurity).
On the event’s second day, the Top Contributor Award for the Europol Tool Repository (ETR) was presented to the Norwegian Police.
This award recognises the EU member state or Europol partner country that has made the most significant contributions to the ETR, enhancing it with innovative tools supporting European law enforcement.
The ETR features 40 investigation-support tools with over 8,000 downloads. Developed by law enforcement for law enforcement, these tools demonstrate the power of collaboration and shared expertise in addressing the evolving challenges of modern crime.
Europol works under the premise that traditional law enforcement approaches must be complemented by partnering with non-law enforcement partners to grasp the added value emerging technologies can bring to investigations.
Enhancing collaboration with private sector partners offers numerous advantages, such as improving efficiency and adopting the best solutions for law enforcement compliance needs in personal data, fundamental rights, and transparency in the fight against criminality.
