Communication

After the presentation at the latest 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 in Skopje, RITHMS project lands on the pages of the specialised magazine 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓.

Find out more here: https://www.border-security-report.com/rithms-he-project-research-intelligence-and-technology-for-heritage-and-market-security/

On May 30th, the National Police of Moldova (RITHMS Consortium partner) presented RITHMS' objectives and main actions during the Closing Conference of the CrimeART project (Crime Against Cultural Goods and Cites).

Both projects share the common goals of enhancing investigative capabilities in crimes against cultural goods and combating organized crime through cooperation with relevant entities at national and international levels.

The knowledge acquired from five training sessions conducted within the CrimeART project, particularly regarding the methods and necessary actions for investigating cases involving cultural goods, will be exploited to further tailor the development requirements of RITHMS Platform.

The second internal RITHMS Workshop took place in Sofia on the 9th and 10th of May.

Consortium partners have been hosted by European Software Institute - Center Eastern Europe (ESI CEE) at Cybersecurity Lab (Sofia Tech Park) for the two-day meeting.

The main focus of the workshop was the validation of the technical requirements for the development of RITHMS digital platform: parameters to be used for Data Cleaning, Data Collection and its scrapers, platform access systems, output visualization format, and the structure of three use cases were defined.

By the end of the project, Law Enforcement Agencies will be provided with a technological tool that, thanks to the SNA (Social Network Analysis) application, will allow them to combine investigative data with open source information, obtaining valuable indications on the connections between individuals and criminal groups involved in the illicit trafficking of cultural property.

The automatic integration of multiple sources of information in an interactive multi-layer graph will be strategically crucial in boosting LEAs investigations and, finally, contrasting this phenomenon more effectively.

RITHMS is featuring at the World Border Security Congress in Skopje.

Jelena Levak,  Senior Project Manager at RiniGARD and RITHMS SAB Member, is presenting key elements of RITHMS digital platform highlighting how it can support border authorities activities in tackling international illicit trafficking in cultural goods.

Through Social Network Analysis (SNA), RITHMS Platform will improve the overall understanding of this transnational criminal phenomenon and speed up border checks for individuals involved in criminal networks potentially overlapping with illicit trade of cultural property.

Furthermore, capitalizing on the efforts of border police and customs authorities, RITHMS project intends to promote a more active and efficient international cooperation in combating the phenomenon.

In Amsterdam, the Centre for Cultural Heritage Technology, Coordinator of RITHMS project, chaired the CAA 2023 Session: “Hey Google, stop that looter”. Digital technologies against cultural heritage crimes. 

Dr Luigi Magnini opened the session by introducing the problematic use of metal detectors, which has been spreading and affecting both archaeological and historical sites. His talk illustrated how this issue is growing due in part to weaknesses in the regulatory system, especially in Italy, where also World War I sites are targeted by amateurs and hobbyist detectorists, socially accepted despite the illegality of such activities.

Following up, Dr Arianna Traviglia highlighted the potential of Earth Observation and satellite image analysis as an effective solution for monitoring looting activities and the illegal use of metal detectors. With this regard, she discussed the ESA-funded ALCEO project, implemented by CCHT, which aims to develop Artificial Intelligence methods for automatically detecting and classifying looted cultural heritage sites by exploiting multi-temporal satellite data.

Talking about new methods for detecting looting, Dr Michelle Fabiani presented a novel approach to creating robust and reliable spatiotemporal data on cultural heritage destruction using open-source data. Her talk delved into two projects - one using satellite data in Egypt and the other using open-source intelligence reports in Syria - and focused on the methods of data collection and validation. She then concluded with a demonstration of the utility of these methods in a case study in Egypt.

RITHMS Consortium met in Fürstenfeldbruck, Munich, for the First Workshop, to get started with the deliverables dedicated to the legal, security, and technical requirements.
 
The Bayern School of Police hosted this three-day operational meeting where the first bricks for the SNA Platform's development were laid down.

RITHMS partners are already actively engaged in the implementation steps. 

RITHMS Kick-Off Meeting took place in Venice, in the wonderful halls of the Ateneo Veneto. Numerous representatives of the Consortium gathered in person for the first time for a two-day discussion outlining the actions and next steps of the Project.

Cultural heritage, illicit trade, provenance research, security and IT innovations will be our main topics for the next years: don't miss RITHMS updates and follow us!