SURE project: an urban security model developed in Tampere scales up in other European cities

In the core of the SURE (Smart Urban Security and Event Resilience) project is to develop and pilot intelligent security solutions in the urban environment, thus make everyday life easier and safer for the city residents and visitors. Business Tampere has been driving the city-wide use of SURE solution in Tampere, Finland, and in creating a scalable model that enables use of the results in other European cities.

The SURE project aims to improve the readiness for security threats especially at events, for example by developing co-operation between event actors and by involving citizens in the development of urban safety and security solutions. For local businesses, the project has provided opportunities to develop and test innovations, products and services related to intelligent urban and event security.

"We realized there are hundreds of cities in Europe with similar security needs than what we have identified in Tampere during the SURE project. In the report, we have described the co-development model implemented in the project. The model covers steps from requirements definition to the actual business model, says Petri Nykänen, Director, Safety and Security, Business Tampere.

In Tampere, the key destinations of the SURE project have been Keskustori, the market place in the city centre, and the Tampere Stadium. Also, Nokia Arena, the new multipurpose arena in the heart of the city, has been taken into account in SURE project. The project outcome has been utilised for example in the preparations of the World Ice Hockey Championships, which were held in Tampere in spring 2022. The City of Tampere as an enabler, the scalability of the urban security model has been tested at selected local sites, which are the amusement park Särkänniemi & Särkänniemi event beach, Tampere-talo event & congress house and the school network.

“The model turned out to be more flexible than what we thought. Even the target destinations may vary from each other quite a bit, we found out that they had many common requirements, and that means the same solution can be used in many different cases. We also proved that a similar operating model can work in everyday life in low-risk situations as well as in the needs of large threat scenarios, says Petri Koskinen, Senior Business Advisor, Business Tampere.

• Download SURE end report here.

SURE project

Tampere-based project SURE creates a seamless blend of ​security and ambience for urban events. ​City visitors and locals alike can enjoy security and convenience, because SURE assists the authorities and event producers in planning, anticipating and testing the different event elements and ensuring the smooth running of the event itself.  SURE is a € 4 million project funded by the EU Urban Innovative Action Program. The project started on September 1, 2019 and will continue until February 2023. The project counterparts are: Business Tampere, Insta, Nokia, Securitas, the Finnish Baltic Institute, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, the City of Tampere and the University of Tampere. Read more at Tampere university website.