Milan, May 2026
When a crisis crosses a border, the systems that warn, coordinate and respond to it should cross that border too. That conviction was at the heart of the PSCE Spring Conference 2026 in Milan (19–20 May 2026) and it is a conviction ARTEMis shares at its core. As a Horizon Europe project advancing emergency alert harmonisation across the continent, ARTEMis was proud to take part in one of Europe’s leading public safety gatherings.
Organised by Public Safety Communication Europe (PSCE) together with the Italian Ministry of the Interior, the conference brought together public safety authorities, policymakers, network operators and industry experts for two days of high-level exchange on critical communications, public safety and operational resilience. Opened by the Questore of Milan, Bruno Megale, it placed a clear spotlight on Italy’s public safety landscape and its contribution to the European Critical Communication System (EUCCS) the secure, interoperable network intended to connect the continent’s first responders by 2030.
A shared focus on public safety interoperability
Across the programme, contributions from the Italian Department of Public Security, the State Police and the Fire Department, alongside a high-level operators’ panel featuring GSMA, Eutelsat, Latvijas Mobilais Telefons and TIM, returned again and again to one question: how to build communication capabilities that stay resilient under pressure? Delegates also visited the Questura of Milan, gaining a first-hand view of the forensic police, the control room and the operational vehicles of the Polizia di Stato.
ARTEMis among Europe’s collaborative projects
ARTEMis featured in the conference’s session dedicated to European collaborative projects, presented alongside initiatives including Flecon 6G, B-Prepared, SYNERGISE and SYNERGIES. The session underlined a shared message:The session reinforced a shared message: that innovation and cross-border cooperation are the foundation of European public safety, not an optional extra.
The fit was a natural one. Where EUCCS addresses how responders communicate across borders, the ARTEMis project works on the closely related challenge of how warning and alert systems themselves can be harmonised, so that impact-based forecasts and emergency alerts are generated, exchanged and acted upon consistently from one member state to the next. Drawing on Artificial Intelligence and Earth Observation, ARTEMis turns raw hazard signals into operational decisions and connects them into the wider European alerting ecosystem. Communication interoperability and alert interoperability are, in effect, two halves of the same promise: the right information reaching the right people in time, no matter which side of a border they stand on.
From Milan to the pilots
That promise is being put to the test in ARTEMS’s pilot lines, floods in Emilia-Romagna and Mandra, wildfires in Attica, earthquakes in Friuli Venezia Giulia, landslides in Cazzaso, and cross-border validation across the Alps–Adriatic region. Each represents a real hazard, a real community of responders, and a real coordination challenge that no single system or country can solve alone.
The PSCE Spring Conference offered a timely reminder that ARTEMIS is part of a much larger movement. A growing European community of authorities, operators, researchers and projects is converging on the same goal: an emergency management landscape that is no longer fragmented, but fluent, connected, interoperable, and built together.
ARTEMis looks forward to continuing this dialogue with PSCE and its partners as the project’s pilots move toward deployment.
The ARTEMis project provided a starting point for this reflection, with Beatrice Carradorini from EENA presenting the results of a societal needs survey on disaster preparedness. The ARTEMis project itself seeks to improve emergency management through better integration of data, technologies and coordination mechanisms, but it also places strong emphasis on understanding how citizens perceive risk and preparedness.
The survey results highlighted a gap that although familiar, it’s still striking. Many respondents indicated uncertainty about basic actions during emergencies, such as where to find shelters or how to access assistance. Awareness of local emergency plans and evacuation routes was far from universal, and only a small proportion of participants felt well informed by authorities before, during or after hazardous events. All in all, authorities are felt distant from citizens when it comes to crisis and disaster management. At the same time, the findings revealed something more encouraging: a clear willingness among citizens to engage. A large number expressed interest in participating in trainings and awareness campaigns, suggesting that the issue is not apathy, but rather a lack of accessible pathways to preparedness.
This tension between awareness and readiness resonated strongly with what the other speakers had to say. Minister Jill Dunlop, representing Ontario’s Ministry of Emergency Preparedness and Response in Canada, illustrated how this gap can be addressed in practice. Faced with a wide range of hazards, from wildfires to extreme weather events, Ontario has developed a model that actively involves citizens as part of the response system itself. Central to this is the Ontario Corps, a volunteer-based initiative launched to provide on-the-ground support during emergencies. Volunteers assist with shelter operations, distribution of supplies, medical checks and other essential services, often mobilised within a short timeframe.