Regional findings require extensive research

Project 1: Secure movement of goods - protection from invasive species

The Asian long-horned beetle, which has been imported through movement of international goods, is one of the most dangerous hardwood pests - both on a global and on a European scale. It has no natural enemies. Infested trees have to be felled and destroyed immediately, and their environment needs to be monitored for several ensuing years. Pest control thus causes enormous costs.

Even though the team headed by Prof. Dr Peter Kaul from the Institute for Safety and Security Research (ISF) has gained several years’ experience in tracking the scents of hazardous and explosive materials and in developing corresponding sensor technologies, the beetle presents new challenges to the researchers because they need to take additional parameters into account, such as various types of wood.  Above and beyond this, they must find a way to enable the pest to be distinguished from indigenous species of beetles subject to natural protection.

On this basis, robust technical detection systems need to be developed to support ALB control. At best, the beetle should be detected during the transit of goods through harbours, but it should also be made possible to track it in forests, using mobile systems. The project is supported by the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Conservation and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Project 2: Recognising risks, avoiding crises, retaining confidence

Insufficient risk management severely harms consumers’ confidence. The ‘eH@C HUPAction’ project, with partners from North Rhine-Westphalia and regions near the border with the Netherlands, was aimed at developing new communications strategies in the grocery sector. The new issue monitoring tool developed by the International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE) and the European IT Consultancy EITCO GmbH supports experts and managers in achieving this goal.

The tool filters risk-related data from more than 300 million online sources, and analysis of this continual data flow is conducted fully automatically with the aid of web data mining techniques. The underlying technology also enables companies to add their own data bases or process data into the system so as to include these in the analyses. The project was funded by the IV-A programme Germany – Netherlands.

Come and visit representatives from Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University at the stand of the Bonn academic region in the Research & Technology Hall (Hall 2), Stand C 29.

Prof. Dr. Peter Kaul
Institute for Safety and Security Research (ISF)
Tel. +49 2241 865 515
E-Mail: peter.kaul@h-brs.de (link sends e-mail)
ww.isf.h-brs.de

Dr. Christian H. Meyer
International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE)
Tel. +49 2241 865 9631
E-Mail: christian.meyer@h-brs.de (link sends e-mail)
www.izne.h-brs.de