High-level delegation from the US Department of Homeland Security participating in exercise in Tuzla

Representatives of the United States Department of Homeland Security (The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate) will participate in the 17th field exercise that will be held in Tuzla from September 25 to 29, 2017, organized by the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) and the BiH Ministry of Security.

This is part of a partnership initiated last November between DHS, NATO, and other partner countries, to develop a pilot system for coordination in case of civil emergencies in the Western Balkans. The system is based on an information-sharing platform for rescuers called the "Next-Generation Incident Command System" (NICS), developed by the Lincoln Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

- The global threats and humanitarian crises we face today know no borders - said US Under Secretary for Science and Technology at the Department of Homeland Security William N. Bryan.

- This project, within NATO's Science for Peace and Security Programme, offers S&T the opportunity for international cooperation in research and development activities aimed at identifying creative solutions and adopting innovative ideas to complement the shortcomings of current capacities, in order to make our communities safer and more secure - he added.

Under Secretary Bryan will observe the exercise in Tuzla together with Director for Research and Development Joseph Martin and a team of evaluators from DHS's Science and Technology Directorate. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Montenegro will have their teams testing NICS as part of the pilot project.

During this visit to BiH, a meeting between Under Secretary William N. Bryan and the BiH Minister of Security Dragan Mektić is planned.