“6th Seminar on Joint International Operations”

The 6th Seminar on Joint International Operations was held in Malaga from 20 to 22 March. This seminar, which is sponsored by the Civil Guard General Directorate and the National Distance Learning University, through the University Research Centre for Homeland Security (IUISI), provides an open forum through which to disseminate the contributory scheme of the joint operations that are being carried out by various international law enforcement, legal and political institutions to control immigration flows in the Mediterranean. The ultimate goal of these operations is to design and implement efficient mechanisms to avoid the loss of life and the exploitation of human beings.

The Civil Guard General Directorate again encouraged ISDEFE to take part in this forum and explain its contributions as the in-house service provider for the Spanish Administration specialising in systems engineering applied to the search for National Defence and Security solutions.

At the seminar on “Systems engineering’s contribution to the process of providing operational capabilities for border control in joint operations”, the head of Isdefe’s Border Protection Department, Mr José Antonio Díaz Bermúdez, provided a historical, methodological and technological perspective of the various activities and projects for developing novel devices and systems for law enforcement agencies to use as part of their mission to monitor and control the  external borders of Spain and the European Union.

ISDEFE has been providing its knowledge and services to the Civil Guard General Directorate since 1998, when the first efforts were made to design a system to track irregular maritime traffic in the Strait of Gibraltar, the Integrated External Surveillance System (SIVE), which was later deployed through much of the Spanish mainland and archipelagos.