Denmark’s emergency services get a single national overview

The Danish Emergency Management Agency is to have a single, consolidated digital picture of incidents, resources and response capabilities. It will run on Systematic’s Rezilient platform, which is based on defence software deployed worldwide.

Imagine a storm surge hitting several parts of the country at once. Where should the pumps go, how many people and vehicles should be sent where, and what resources are left if the situation worsens? When major incidents occur, a fast and shared picture of the situation is critical to coordinating the right tasks and resources.

The Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) has therefore chosen Systematic’s Rezilient platform for the National Rescue Service Situational Picture project. The result will be a single, map-based picture of which incidents are active and where, and of which resources are available or in use. It will also show how long it takes to move those resources to where they are needed. The solution is expected to be ready in January 2027.

“The risk and threat picture is serious, and the risk of hybrid incidents is growing. The National Rescue Service Situational Picture gives DEMA a stronger tool and a digital foundation for coordinating our combined response capabilities when they are needed. To the benefit of authorities and citizens alike. At the same time, it is important to note that the system brings data together and makes it visible, but it does not change the division of responsibility within the fire and rescue services,” says Kenneth Pedersen, Director General of the Danish Emergency Management Agency.

He highlights that the Danish-developed solution, which gives DEMA complete ownership of its own data and configurations, will also strengthen its digital sovereignty.

Technology proven in practice

Systematic and DEMA did not start from scratch when building the solution. Rezilient is based on Systematic’s command-and-control system SitaWare, which is used by more than 50 countries and by NATO, from the unit in the field to headquarters. Over the past decade, the same software has also been used in civil disaster response: during forest fires in Spain, cyclones in the Pacific, the 2021 floods in Germany and throughout COVID-19.

“The challenge in an emergency crisis closely resembles the one military commanders have to handle: making well-informed decisions quickly, with a situational picture that keeps changing. The technology for a shared operational picture has been used by the armed forces for decades, but it belongs just as much in the civil emergency services. This is an important area, critical to society as a whole, and we are very happy to contribute to it,” says Nikolaj Bramsen, CEO of Systematic.

Rezilient will also be able to support whole-of-society preparedness and be used across sectors, so that authorities, emergency services and owners of critical infrastructure can work from one shared situational picture.

The same need in many countries

Although Rezilient is being adapted in close collaboration with DEMA, it is a standard product that other emergency services can also benefit from. Several countries are already showing interest in the solution, says Anders Goul Nielsen, Group Senior Vice President for National Security & Infrastructure at Systematic.

“The need looks much the same in many places. Climate-related incidents and hybrid attacks place new demands on how quickly you can grasp a situation and act, and a number of countries therefore see a pressing need to digitalise their emergency response. That is exactly the task we have built the solution for,” he says.