15 July 2024 - T4T has secured a grant from the European Union to support the Ukrainian State Emergency Services in the remote detection and identification of explosive ordnance and the creation of high-accuracy training replicas for EOD education purposes. This work will be implemented over the next 18 months. We are proud to continue to have the EU’s flag on our work and to support the effectiveness and security of Ukrainian demining teams.
12 June 2024 - Tech 4 Tracing is pleased to announce a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Aviation University, Kyiv, for cooperation, expertise exchange and collaboration towards shared objectives in education and support to Ukrainian authorities.
1 May 2024 - Tech 4 Tracing was pleased to co-present the side event “EXPANDING THE AI TOOLKIT FOR NTS PROCESSES’ with HALO Trust at the 27th International Meeting of Mine Action National Directors and United Nations Advisers (NDM-UN27) today at the International Conference Center Geneva. T4T described the current state of play of computer vision explosive object detection in both OSINT datasets and real-time operational technical and non-technical surveys. The session drew a large crowd and, though we only had time for a few questions, they were good ones!
5 April 2024 - T4T delivered a statement during today’s Constructive Dialogue on the UNTOC Firearms Protocol, organised by UNODC, making three specific points in response to Agenda item IV on “‘States parties’ technical assistance needs and non-governmental stakeholders’ engagement” and in light of Recommendation 8 of the Background Paper of Working Group on Firearms on Operationalising the Firearms Protocol in view of technological developments relating to the illicit manufacturing of an trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition.
Recommendation 8 reads, ‘States are encouraged to explore the use of technology to enhance responses related to technological developments and changing modi operandi in the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition …’
T4T’s three points:
- As criminals evolve in their use of new technologies, States’ parties’ technical assistance needs to effectively respond will only grow. What we are now seeing is only the start of a technology race between criminals and law enforcement in the domain of illicit weapons manufacture. To beat the criminals in this race, states need technical expertise that lies with non-governmental stakeholders––with NGOs and the private sector.
- In the fight against illicit firearms manufacture and trafficking, information exchange is critical, whether organized bilaterally or through regional and international mechanisms and platforms. Key examples of such platforms include iARMS, iTRACE, and the planned Europol Firearms Intelligence Hub. For information exchange mechanisms to be effective, however, it is essential for national authorities to ‘speak the same technical language’ when it comes to illicit weapons data. A number of standard universal reference lists exist for firearms, including the Interpol Firearms Reference Table, but no such reference exists for firearms ammunition. For this reason, working in consultation with law enforcement entities, T4T is developing the international SMall Caliber Ammunition Reference Table (SMART), which could be extremely useful to States for documenting and then sharing information on seized illicit ammunition.
- Automating the detection and documentation of privately-manufactured firearm parts and components needs special attention given how fast they are proliferating and their increasing prominence in seizures. Because of their unique geometry, these objects––like explosives and munitions––are amenable to detection and identification using artificial intelligence (AI) computer vision. This is another important area where specialized non-governmental entities can work closely with law enforcement to ensure that they have the leading technologies they need to combat criminal manufacture and trafficking, and to thereby more effectively implement the Firearms Protocol.
25 March 2024 - T4T is proud to announce our new Memorandum of Cooperation with Bomb Techs Without Borders (BTWOB) on collaborative work to bring innovative technologies to EOD technicians, sappers, deminers, and others to safely and effectively address the effects of explosive hazards. BTWOB is an international humanitarian organization based in the United States with a registered branch in Ukraine whose mission is the mitigation of explosive hazards around the world.
At over 1100 pages, BTWOB’s Basic Identification Guide of Ammunition in Ukraine (version 5), built in partnership with the explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) of the Ukrainian 8th SOF Regiment, State Emergency Services of Ukraine (DSNS) and National Police of Ukraine, is an essential resource for Ukrainian and international EOD technicians.
Among other collaborations, T4T and BTWOB will work together on explosive ordnance identification tools that take advantage of computer vision artificial intelligence.
16 November 2023 — The latest UN Secretary-General’s Report on Small Arms and Light Weapons (S/2023/823) cites Tech 4 Tracing work to promote the adoption of new technology-based tools for enhancing arms control capabilities, and recommends that the UN Security Council further examine the benefits and opportunities these technologies provide.
6 November 2023 - In advance of public presentations in November, T4T;s implementing partner VFRAME has released a publicly accessible web demo for the PTM-1 anti-personnel mine and 9N235 cluster sub-munition computer vision detector. Note that the web demo represents a reduced performance version of the full performance detector. For more information, get in touch with us. This project is supported by the European Union.
22 June 2023 - Issue 27.2 (June 2023) of the Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction features an article by Adam Harvey and Emile LeBrun entitled ‘Computer Vision Detection of Explosive Ordnance: A High-performance 9N235/9N210 Submunition Detector’, describing a computer vision algorithm creation workflow developed to automate the detection of the 9N235/9N210 cluster submunition, a heavily deployed munition in the Ukraine conflict. The six-step process described here incorporates photography, photogrammetry, 3D-rendering, 3D-printing, and deep convolutional neural networks. The resulting high-performance detector can be deployed for searching and filtering images generated as part of OSINT investigations and soon, for real-time field detection objectives.
8 June 2023 - T4T addressed the final Fourth Session of the UN Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) on Conventional Ammunition today, stressing the retention of important language in the draft Global Framework on new technology-based applications to detect and prevent ammunition diversion. The OEWG negotiation conclude tomorrow. T4T’s full statement can be found here.
9 May 2023 - T4T is pleased to announce that the European Union is now supporting our work to test and refine efficient and effective workflows for the creation of arms and ammunition computer vision detection algorithms. During the first phase of this project, which runs through February 2024, we will build the foundation of an inventory of high-priority arms, ammunition and explosive ordnance object detectors and scope the opportunities and challenges for creating practical, fit-for-purpose mobile platforms to integrate multiple weapon detectors and generate data that meet standards of evidence for accountability mechanisms. We’re proud to add the EU’s flag to our work.
15 February 2023 - Tech 4 Tracing was honoured to have been invited to present at REAIM2023this week on “Arms Control for the 21st Century,” showcasing our work with VFRAME on computer vision detection of munitions and a range of other weapons. In a conference dominated by discussions about what the limits of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military operations are and should be, T4T’s presentation provided an update on practical applications for arms control, human rights investigations, monitoring and verification, and the safe and secure identification of unexploded ordnance threats in battlefield contexts. “The conversation on AI in the military must include a focus on the many beneficial applications for protection and accountability mechanisms, but this has so far been overshadowed by other debates,” said T4T Executive Director David Lochhead.
17 August 2022 - Tech 4 Tracing released its first Policy Brief, New Tech for Arms Control: A Report from UN PoA BMS8. The paper highlights findings T4T’s side event at the Eighth Biennial Meeting of States for the UN Programme of Action (PoA) on Small Arms in June 2022, and situates discussions of new technology-based approaches to arms control in the context of multilateral arms control policies, including the PoA. The report notes that technology-related discussions in PoA forums have focused narrowly on addressing marking and tracing challenges presented by new small arms manufacture and designs and, like other arms control forums, the PoA process been slow to consider the use of new technologies to enhance efforts to address illicit small arms proliferation.
The full publication can be downloaded here.
17 August 2022 - Tech 4 Tracing Technical Director Chris Gouch addressed the members of the UN Open-ended Working Group on conventional ammunition, during its second formal session in Geneva this week. The body is tasked with negotiating a global political framework on the control of conventional ammunition. He preview the upcoming release of the first algorithm for the computer vision-aided detection of munition items, and suggested that the release of this algorithm will be a watershed, and usher in a new era in arms control opportunities, including for conventional ammunition. Read his entire statement here.
29 July 2022 - Tech 4 Tracing, in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Belgium and Mexico to the United Nations, held an official side event during the Eighth Biennial Meeting of States (BMS8) for the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms at UN Headquarters under the title New Tech for Arms Control: Enhancing Authorities Ability to Detect Diversion and Misuse. The event, co-sponsored by the Belgium and Mexico, provided Member States and UN agencies with expert perspectives on the application of new technologies to a range of arms control challenges as well as for lowering the costs for more effective illicit arms monitoring in both crime- and conflict-affected contexts. More information on the speakers and agenda can be found here.
25 May 2022 - Tech 4 Tracing Research Director Robert Sim addressed the members of the UN Open-ended Working Group on conventional ammunition, which will eventually negotiate a global political framework on the control of conventional ammunition. He urged the group to encourage the application of new technologies to the control of ammunition, including its rapid identification at sites of violence, and emphasised the need for tools that can gather data in ways that ensure its usability in prosecutions for human rights and international humanitarian law violations. Read his entire statement here.