Safety Innovation Center

What Safety Innovation Center does

Safety Innovation Center gGmbH is a German non-profit research organization founded in 2017 as an initiative of Paderborn University researchers alongside the District and City of Paderborn. It investigates and realizes innovative concepts in the field of 'Digitisation for Civil Safety' with a human-centered design focus, serving fire departments, rescue services, public authorities with security tasks (BOS), and rural municipalities across Europe. Its core deliverables are a portfolio of interconnected research projects and digital platforms rather than commercial products: the INSPIRE.hub and INSPIRE.app transmit integrated sensor, social-media, drone, and people-flow data to emergency services; the SYNERGIES Knowledge Base (KB4ICC) is a modular web platform with a semantic search engine for crisis-communication guidelines; the LINKS Community Center hosts resources on social media and crowdsourcing for disaster resilience; IRiS integrates SmartHome sensor technology with fire-response workflows; and DiDoZ builds a 5G-enabled digital village twin for rural regions.

The business model is grant-funded rather than commercial: the center has no disclosed pricing, no paying customers, and no equity investors. Revenue is derived from competitive research grants, primarily the European Union's Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programs (LINKS, SYNERGIES, eNOVATION) and German federal ministries such as BMLEH under the BULE+ Rural Development program (DiDoZ, approximately €1M over three years). Additional support comes from foundations including SafeInno Stiftung and Björn Steiger Stiftung. Customer engagement occurs through co-creation workshops, evaluation exercises with practitioners, conference presentations, and direct collaboration with municipal and European public-sector partners, making the go-to-market a community-led, project-driven model rather than a traditional sales motion.

Name

Safety Innovation Center

Legal name

safety innovation center gGmbH

Website

https://safetyinnovation.center

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Safety Innovation Center is a German non-profit gGmbH, founded in 2017 as a Paderborn University initiative, that builds digital platforms and conducts research projects on the digitalization of civil safety for fire departments, emergency responders, and public authorities across Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civil Safety and Emergency Management Software

NAICS

Computer Systems Design Services (541512), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Security Systems Services (56162)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Development & ICT4D / GovTech Technical Assistance (BPADAEAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Risk Intelligence, Threat Monitoring & Crisis Response (Harmful trends, coordinated abuse) (BPAAALAN), Smart Cities & Urban Innovation Programs (Digital Planning, Civic Tech for Cities) (BPAIANAJ), Backup & DR Software Implementation & Managed Platforms (BPAEALAI)

Keywords

• Civil safety research
• Crisis communication platforms
• Emergency response technology
• Disaster resilience solutions
• Digital twin technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Westphalia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Project Funding: Funded through European Union Horizon programs (Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe), German Federal Ministry programs (BMLEH BULE+, BMEL), and other government research grants. Projects include eNOVATION, SYNERGIES, LINKS, DiDoZ, and INSPIRE.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Safety Innovation Center develops and operates digital platforms and research projects focused on digitalization for civil safety, including crisis communication tools, emergency response platforms, and disaster resilience resources. Its core deliverables are the SYNERGIES Knowledge Base (KB4ICC), the LINKS Community Center, the INSPIRE ecosystem (INSPIRE.hub and INSPIRE.app), and applied research projects such as IRiS (SmartHome fire safety) and DiDoZ (Digital Village Twin Etteln). Activities are conducted as a non-profit research initiative of Paderborn University, the District of Paderborn, and the City of Paderborn, funded through EU and German federal research grants.

Product overview

Safety Innovation Center is a research initiative focused on Digitisation for Civil Safety, operating as a portfolio of interconnected research projects and digital platforms rather than a single commercial product. The core offerings include the SYNERGIES Knowledge Base (KB4ICC) - a crisis communication platform with semantic search capabilities, the LINKS Community Center for disaster resilience resources, and the INSPIRE ecosystem (INSPIRE.hub and INSPIRE.app) for integrated safety operations. Additionally, they conduct research projects like IRiS (SmartHome fire safety integration) and DiDoZ (Digital Village Twin for rural 5G applications). These products operate as independent research initiatives under the Horizon Europe and other EU funding programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• INSPIRE: Integrated Safety Pilot Region - research project focusing on digitization for civil security and integrating individual solutions into a comprehensive approach
• SYNERGIES
• eNOVATION
• LINKS
• DiDoZ

Products and services

• SYNERGIES Knowledge Base for Innovative Channels and Communication (KB4ICC) A modular, user-driven, web-based platform to share guidelines, technologies, and practice examples for effective crisis communication, featuring a semantic search engine and three interconnected modules (Innovative Methods, Software Technologies, and Lessons Identified). It is for civil protection practitioners, public authorities, and NGOs across Europe.
• LINKS Community Center A community platform integrating core products from the H2020 LINKS project, providing resources on social media and crowdsourcing for European disaster resilience. It is for researchers, practitioners, and public safety stakeholders across Europe.
• INSPIRE.hub A digital platform for transmitting situation information to emergency services during incidents, integrating data from smart building sensors, social media channels, people flow measurement, and drones. It is for fire departments and emergency responders.
• INSPIRE.app A mobile application for emergency services to receive real-time situation information during operations. It is for fire departments and first responders.
• DiDoZ (Digital Village Twin Etteln) A 5G-based digital twin project adapting urban digital applications for rural regions, combining an open data platform with virtual village models for improved quality of life and municipal services. It is for local communities and municipalities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Co-creation with practitioners from La Réunion, Rotterdam and Malta demonstrates practical applicability
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Paderborn University (C.I.K. Department)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCore institutional partner providing research expertise. The C.I.K. (Computer Application and Integration in Construction and Planning) department organizes practical exercises and research activities. The organization is described as an initiative of Paderborn University researchers.
• District of PaderborncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of three founding institutional partners alongside Paderborn University and the City of Paderborn. Provides local government support and collaboration for civil safety projects.
• City of PaderborncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of three founding institutional partners alongside Paderborn University and District of Paderborn. Provides municipal support for pilot projects and initiatives.
• LINKS Project (H2020)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHorizon 2020 project examining social media and crowd-sourcing impact on European disaster resilience. Safety Innovation Center integrates LINKS outcomes into the SYNERGIES Knowledge Base and hosts the LINKS Community Center.
• Crisis Management Innovation Network Europe (CMINE)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork established from FP7 project DRIVER+. SYNERGIES Knowledge Base integrates with CMINE to support transferability and sustainability of crisis management innovations.
• EENA (European Emergency Number Association)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPresented LINKS project at EENA Conference 2023 in Ljubljana. Partnership enables expansion of LINKS community and engagement with European control center innovations.
• Vereinigung zur Förderung des deutschen Brandschutzes e.V. (vfdb)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioning body for the Digital Transformation in Civil Emergency Response study. Represents German fire protection professionals.
• FEU (Federation of the European Union Fire Officer)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint partner presenting LINKS project at EENA Conference 2023. European fire service organization for cooperation in civil safety research.
• Gemeinde BorchenmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipality partnering for DiDoZ digital village twin project. DiDoZ solutions being made available as blueprint to other districts of Borchen.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Hexagon Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial: Provides GIS, command-and-control, and digital-twin platforms used by emergency response and smart-city programs, comparable in functionality to Safety Innovation Center's INSPIRE and DiDoZ digital twin platforms.
• Atos Public Safety: Large systems integrator delivering emergency response, command-and-control, and crisis-management platforms to European public agencies; the type of scaled incumbent Safety Innovation Center could partner with to commercialize its research outputs.
• Motorola Solutions: Supplies mission-critical communications, command center software, and video security to fire, police, and emergency agencies — the commercial incumbent whose solutions Safety Innovation Center's research prototypes ultimately aim to complement or influence.
• Everbridge: Critical Event Management and mass-notification vendor for public warning and emergency response; comparable to Safety Innovation Center's crisis communication and early-warning research agenda, but at global commercial scale.
• Frequentis: Austrian vendor of control-room and mission-critical communication solutions for emergency services and public safety; overlaps with Safety Innovation Center's INSPIRE.hub emergency-information platform but at commercial scale.
• Esri (Emergency Management): Provides GIS mapping and spatial analytics widely used by fire and emergency services for situational awareness; relevant to Safety Innovation Center's INSPIRE and DiDoZ data-integration and digital-twin work.

Direct peers

• TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research): Dutch applied-research organization running civil-safety and crisis-management programs; Safety Innovation Center's Rotterdam workshop participants reflect this shared, publicly-funded applied research community for European disaster resilience.
• EENA (European Emergency Number Association): European non-profit association advancing emergency services; Safety Innovation Center presented at EENA Conference 2023 alongside FEU, and both operate at the intersection of civil protection technology and policy across European jurisdictions.
• Fraunhofer IAIS: German applied-research institute that builds AI and digital systems for safety and crisis management under public funding, mirroring Safety Innovation Center's university-affiliated, grant-funded applied research model.
• DRIVER+ (DRiving Innovation in crisis management for European Resilience): EU FP7/H2020 project that pioneered the Crisis Management Innovation Network Europe (CMINE), with which Safety Innovation Center's SYNERGIES project integrates; both are publicly funded testbeds for crisis-management innovations.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks3 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/safetypaderborn
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCl2nupMuaBgeKxYu_JIYYMw
• Facebookfacebook.com/safetypaderborn
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/safetypaderborn
• Instagraminstagram.com/safetypaderborn

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Safety Innovation Center