On 12 November, a one day end-users workshop was organised in Brussels in the context of BODEGA project (BOrdDErGuArd – Proactive Enhancement of Human Performance in Border Control). This was the first workshop from a series of six workshops scheduled during the project’s duration organised by CEIS (European Company for Intelligence Strategy).

BODEGA is a European research project with the following main objectives:

• Develop an approach with ethical, societal considerations into a set of human, organisational and technical factors
• Construct a greater understanding of border guard’s work and border control (future smart borders)
• Design and develop new guidelines, recommendations and specifications
• Develop and validate a toolbox for decision-makers

This workshop was a real success with the attendance of 30 people from all over Europe: Federal Police of Belgium, Border and Coast Guard Academy, Hellenic Police, Dutch Police, FRONTEX, customs and part of the BODEGA consortium members (VTT, UIC, CEA, Thales, CEIS, Hellenic Police and Border and Coast Guard Academy).

This workshop was also the opportunity to present the end user’s perspective on Smart Borders. A scenario was then presented, allowing for interactions and reactions from various police end-users, and to have their feedback and suggestions.

In the afternoon, the consortium members presented the organisational, human and technical factors that they had already indentified in the framework of BODEGA.
This workshop allowed the consortium of BODEGA to adjust their understanding of the issue of BODEGA to the reality thanks to the suggestions, explanations and advice of the present police representatives and border guards.

The workshop was really fruitful and interactive thanks to the implication of both the consortium of BODEGA and the end-users and will help UIC to coordinate the BODEGA field studies on all four transport modes (air, maritime, rail and road).

Beyond this workshop and still in the framework of BODEGA, UIC wants to point out that Polish Railways (PKP PLK S.A.) has accepted UIC’s proposal that their company would provide the support/assistance for BODEGA Project Consortium in relation with the Polish Border Guards during the implementation of the project in the frame of their possibilities and competence, excluding any financial or in-kind commitment. They assume that making contact with the parties engaged in the project is the responsibility of the project officers. They suggested getting in touch with the security entities at the border point in advance.

Concerning the rail field case studies referring to the Schengen border point they suggested to choosing the Cross Border Point – Terespol/Brest (Poland – Belarus). Therefore, they suggest that it is also worth informing the Belarusians at least on the dates of BODEGA visits. As far as they know, BC (Belarusian Railways) is aware of the project and although they cannot be part of it, it would be advisable to let them know about the time frame of visits to be held at the border.