The evolving global situation and some recent events such as the September 11th and March 11th attacks in New York and Madrid respectively, have profoundly changed the understanding of the term "security". This has led to the adoption of a new European security policy. The implementation of such policy requires a unified European response in terms of developing and using new security technologies.

Geospatial information plays an essential role in the preparation and decision process in many homeland security tasks and is a key element in assessing the situation awareness, e.g. for the surveillance of land and sea borders or the monitoring of urban areas of interest.

This feasibility study seeks to address the specific requirements for geospatial data that will be needed to enhance EU security, the appropriate sources and databases, the supply and dissemination mechanisms for the information, and how it will be used operationally in a European network of different organisations in different countries.

The emphasis is on developing a European capability for the provision of geospatial data that seeks to build on the abilities and roles of existing supply agencies, industrial organisations and end-users. 
This feasibility study aims to support the overall goal of having a consistent, correct and up to date environmental picture available to support situational awareness and decision-making within the context of security operations. From related work in the defense domain we understand the importance of geospatial data (examples include rapid and reliable mapping for route planning, elevation data for modelling communications effectiveness, and weather data impacting on visibility and safety).

Geocrew is realized by a consortium of small start-up companies, institutes, global acting companies and experienced medium-sized companies from different countries with different backgrounds and focuses.

A powerful team that efficiently perform the study work by integrating their knowledge of:

• information system design
• geospatial imagery and sensor systems
• intelligence systems domain know-how
• geospatial information systems
• networking and web-based systems
• interoperability on a national and international basis.

The Consortium
ESG; National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR), the central aerospace research institute in the Netherlands; EUROSENSE; AMS Ltd; GMV S.A.; Planetek Italia; German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR); JRC, a major research center in Europe, reference centre of science and technology for the European Union; Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Europe; @semantics.

PASR
PASR is the Preparatory Action on the enhancement of the European industrial potential in the field of Security Research.
The PASR activities as part of the European Security Strategy set a coherent reference framework for a "security culture" and common security standard at a high level, complimentary to the actions and efforts by the Member States and other EU institutions.