The CSIR has developed an innovative shared awareness and integration platform, Cmore, using modern web and mobile technology. It addresses the need for situation awareness and collaboration amongst users through the consolidation of information from various sensors and external systems as well as real-time analytics.

Information is key in gaining insight and understanding of a situation, to make informed decisions and to position oneself to be proactive within the context of the current situation.

Cmore incorporates information from various elements and sensors into a consolidated view that provides commanders of armed forces units with real-time situation awareness. It is a secure, private cloud-based platform with both mobile and web-based applications which are used to view and contribute information to the system.

The platform is able to exchange information with a diverse set of services and sensors, such as detection systems and various other entity tracking systems. In addition to consolidating information from various sources, Cmore also allows for the secure, controlled distribution of information with the ability to share and collaborate with users from anywhere in the world.

Cmore’s flexible information model and ease of use makes it suited for domains such as conservation, disaster response and management, as well as safety and security. The system fully exploits the geographic nature of events and real-world entities.

Border safeguarding

Cmore was first developed in response to the need for border safeguarding, where interdepartmental and multinational agencies are required to collaborate.

The team considered social networking technologies, as well as mobile communications, combined with traditional command and control functions, such as tracking, threat detection and situation awareness to create the initial technology demonstrator. The work was funded by Armscor.

Cmore was used in various border safeguarding experiments after which the platform was redesigned and refined. The work was funded by Armscor, the US Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and other partners.

Environmental asset management and protection

Cmore allows different users to communicate and share information. In the environmental asset management environment, this capability has helped counter-poaching groups to collaborate and consolidate their efforts. Notifications of events, tracks discovered, comments, images and other types of information are received in real-time, eliminating delays, misunderstandings or missed opportunities, typically caused by outdated information. Real-time voice, video, text and geographical information shared between, for example, counter-poaching teams, assist groups to direct scarce resources to where they are most effective.