Danish Defence software helps coordinate emergency response in times of disaster
Flooding in Germany, forest fires in Spain, cyclones over the Pacific and COVID-19: when disaster strikes and the military are deployed as part of the emergency response, Danish Defence’s IT solutions form an essential component, ensuring everyone has the same overview of the situation.
Danish Defence does not just handle assignments in conflict zones. Personnel, vehicles and other military resources can also be deployed to provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief for both people and property. An ever-increasing number of countries are using the Danish SitaWare defence solution out in the field.
The SitaWare suite consists of a range of software products and is used by around 50 countries worldwide, at all levels from infantry soldiers on the ground to generals based at headquarters. SitaWare is generally used to support military operations, but over the past decade, a number of countries have become aware of the possibilities of utilising the software for everything from dealing with natural disasters to rescue operations and military cooperation with civilian bodies, such as health authorities, transport companies and humanitarian aid organisations.
SitaWare in the fight against coronavirus
This potential proved invaluable during the coronavirus pandemic, when New Zealand, Ireland and Germany brought SitaWare on board to assist in combating the spread of infection. The defence software system proved ideal for this:
“In New Zealand and Ireland, the military were very keen to help. This included transporting the sick by helicopter, which involved coordinating who was to be transported and where, and that required keeping track of hospital capacity and bed occupancy rate. They needed to be able to see which hospitals could take patients, and they actually integrated that kind of information into our system,” says Tage Lund, Lead Sales Engineer for Systematic’s defence software.
In New Zealand, they developed a non-classified situational overview that all public-sector employees could access via a web browser. The Irish Defence Forces quickly set up a solution that provided a number of stakeholders with access to the software’s situational overview and planning functions, and SitaWare was integrated into a number of civilian systems. Germany also rapidly realised how useful the software could be, especially for managing personnel and resources. They established an open situational overview with information about army units, which enabled civilian organisations, such as the health authorities, the Red Cross and Germany’s Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), to quickly request support from the army.
Even though each country adapted the software in its own unique way to suit its specific needs, the fact that SitaWare could deliver a comprehensive common situational overview and that it was easy to integrate external data and systems proved to be a significant benefit for all of them.
It proved particularly useful to be able to visualise data, e.g. by displaying the information on a map. For example, the countries could combine census data with information on hospital locations and catchment areas, making it possible to identify potential gaps in healthcare coverage for the age groups deemed to be most vulnerable to COVID-19.
“SitaWare is based on open architecture, making it technically compatible with a wide range of external systems, including some of those used in hospitals. This means that SitaWare can facilitate cross-sector collaboration and be used in more and more new ways,” explains Tage.
In a connected world, software needs to follow suit
Integrating software with a host of different third-party solutions, communication channels and standards is nothing new for Systematic.
“Radios, drones, vehicle systems, third-party software and hundreds of standards for exchanging data across both armed forces and NATO countries. SitaWare must be able to bring all this together into a highly effective overview and communication tool. It is extremely complex, but that’s how it is, so we have gradually honed our skills, and it has turned out to be a major asset when it comes to civilian crisis management and disaster response,” explains former Brigadier General Henrik Sommer, who now directs Systematic’s development of military systems for decision support.
He predicts that in future we will see even more examples of this kind of holistic cross-sector approach with software and resources.
“The challenges of COVID-19, natural disasters and other crises mirror in many ways those that soldiers have to deal with in war: having to make well-informed yet rapid decisions in critical situations. So it makes sense to employ military software to deal with civilian crises,” he says.
Systematic’s latest addition to its SitaWare suite is SitaWare Battlefield Health, which combines the company’s expertise within the defence and healthcare sectors. The solution ensures that health and treatment data for any wounded soldier is recorded and shared digitally between all authorities, both civilian and military, relevant for evacuation and treatment. However, the healthcare system and armed forces are not the only sectors in which collaboration can be strengthened digitally, according to Henrik:
“During the Cold War, Denmark operated a ‘total defence’ model, in which military, political and healthcare resources worked together as a team for collective emergency response. Today, we are heading in the same direction in the sense that we are increasingly thinking of emergency response as a joint cross-sector effort. And we can support that with digital resources. The world is becoming more and more interconnected, and that should ideally be reflected in society’s software – especially in crisis and emergency situations.”
