News

News and past events about Ceasefire

Ceasefire Public Event

Join the 𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 – Innovating the Fight Against Illicit Firearms Trafficking!

We’re thrilled to invite you to the 𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭, a groundbreaking opportunity to explore cutting-edge tools and strategies combating one of Europe’s most pressing challenges: 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞? Le Capitole, 55 Avenue des Champs Pierreux, 92000 Nanterre

𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 10, 2025 to secure your spot: Register Here

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭:

𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 of AI-driven solutions designed to enhance cross-border collaboration and operational efficiency.
𝐈𝐧-𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 on 5 real-world use cases, including:
- Real-time intelligence sharing
- Immediate registration of seized firearms during field operations
- Detection of illegal firearm purchases on Dark Web marketplaces
- Identification of trafficking activities through X-ray scanning technologies in mail and courier services
- Tracking of distributed blueprints for 3D-printed firearms
𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 and Q&A sessions with developers, law enforcement, and policymakers.
𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 with stakeholders across Europe to shape the future of security tech.

Whether you’re in law enforcement, tech, policy, or security, this is your chance to see innovation in action and connect with leaders driving change.

Venue details: Le Capitole Nanterre

Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of the solution!

Organized by FMI and the CEASEFIRE consortium. Register today!

You can find the Logistics and the Agenda of the Event here.

Ceasefire Workshop at IEEE BigData 2024

On December 15-18, the Ceasefire project organized the “BigData applications for fight against crime and terrorism” workshop, in the context of the IEEE International Conference on Big Data 2024 a Washington DC, USA. The workshop was organized by the project
coordinator CERTH and details can be found here. The following 8 Ceasefire papers were presented:

Α. Stefanidou, J. Cani, T. Papadopoulos, P. Radoglou-Grammatikis, P. Sarigiannidis, I. Varlamis, G. Th. Papadopoulos, “Leveraging Digital Twin Technologies for Public Space Protection and Vulnerability Assessment”.
Link: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10825359
J. Cani, I. Mademlis, M. Mancuso, C. Paternoster, E. Adamakis, G. Margetis, S. Chambon, A. Crouzil, L. Lechelek, G. Dede, S. Evangelatos, G. Lalas, F. Mignet, P. Linardatos, K. Kentrotis, H. Gierszal, P. Tyczka, S. Karagiorgou, G. Pantelis, G. Stavropoulos, K. Votis and G. Th. Papadopoulos, “CEASEFIRE: An AI-Powered System for Combating Illicit Firearms Trabicking”.
Link: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10825989
F. Mignet, V. Stanciu, S. Plank-Konrad, “Vision Paper: Incorporating Domain Knowledge in Information Retrieval Systems to Streamline Incident Investigation”.
Link: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10825357
M. Wysocki, H. Gierszał, P. Tyczka, G. Pantelis, S. Karagiorgou, “Benchmarking of Diberent YOLO Models for CAPTCHAs Detection and Classification”.
Link: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10826049
E. Adamakis, E. Sykianaki, G. Margetis, S. Ntoa, C. Stephanidis, “Applying visual analytics to firearms trabicking trails for the extraction of strategic intelligence”.
Link: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10825988
C. Porlou, M. Makrynioti, G. Stavropoulos, K. Votis, “Vision Paper: Addressing the Threat of 3D Printing Firearm Files with Data-Driven Strategies”.
Link: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10825654
C. Porlou, M. Makrynioti, A. Alexiadis, G. Stavropoulos, G. Pantelis, K. Votis, D. Tzovaras, “Optimizing an LLM Prompt for Accurate Data Extraction from Firearm- Related Listings in Dark Web Marketplaces”.
Link: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10825446
A. K. Blitsi, E. Katsoura, G. Stavropoulos, K. Votis, “Uncovering Illegal Firearm Transactions in Cryptocurrency Networks”.
Link: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10825364

Conclusion of first round of pilots

The first round of pilots of the Ceasefire project have concluded! The four pilots took place in Lisbon, Belgrade, Paris, and Gdynia. More information about the pilots can be found in Newsletter #7.

5th physical plenary meeting

This week, from September 16 to 17, CEASEFIRE project partners gathered in Heraklion, Greece for their fifth physical meeting, hosted by FORTH (Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas). The event brought together experts to discuss progress, share insights, and plan future developments for the CEASEFIRE system. A key highlight was a training workshop on the CEASEFIRE criminal event analysis suite, which provided hands-on experience for participants.

1st CEASEFIRE Project Review

On 16 May 2024, the Ceasefire project underwent its formal review for the first reporting period. The consortium members successfully demonstrated the achieved research results for all 5 supported use-cases, including live demos for all developed modules as well as the integrated platform. The project received excellent comments from the external reviewers and the EC-appointed project officer. The project is looking forward towards finalizing the technological developments and deploying them in real operational settings, during the forthcoming pilot studies in the second reporting period.

2nd CEASEFIRE Online Training Session

On 18 April 2024, the Ceasefire project held its second virtual training session for Law Enforcement Agency officers, on using the cutting-edge digital tools it develops. The session, under the coordination of project partner IANUS, marked the first time external security stakeholders participated in Ceasefire training and underscored the project’s value in addressing contemporary challenges.

Ceasefire Workshop at IEEE BigData 2023

On December 15-18, the Ceasefire project organized the “BigData applications for fight against crime and terrorism” workshop, in the context of the IEEE International Conference on Big Data 2023 at Sorrento, Italy. The workshop was organized by the project coordinator CERTH and details can be found here. The following 5 Ceasefire papers were presented:

M. Makrynioti, C. Porlou, A. Alexiadis, G. Stavropoulos, K. Votis, D. Tzovaras, “Unveiling Conversational Patterns: Intent Classification and Clustering in Reddit’s Firearm Trade Community” (by CERTH).
A. K. Blitsi, G. Stavropoulos, K. Votis, “Vision Paper: Uncovering Illegal Firearm Transactions in Cryptocurrency Networks” (by CERTH).
G. Chatzimarkaki, S. Karagiorgou, M. Konidi, D. Alexandrou, T. Bouras, S. Evangelatos, “Harvesting Large Textual and Multimedia Data to Detect Illegal Activities on Dark Web Marketplaces” (by project partners UBITECH and INTRASOFT).
I. Mademlis, G. Batsis, A. A. R. Chrysochoou, G. Th. Papadopoulos, “Visual inspection for illicit items in X-ray images using Deep Learning” (by project partner HUA).
S. Konstantakos, D. I. Chalkiadaki, I. Mademlis, A. A. R. Chrysochoou, G. Th. Papadopoulos, “Self-supervised visual learning for analyzing firearms trafficking activities on the Web” (by project partner HUA).

1st CEASEFIRE Online Training Session

The first CEASEFIRE online training session for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) took place on December 12, focusing on familiarizing end-users with CEASEFIRE’s AI-based tools and their application in combatting illegal firearms trafficking. This session, virtually attended by 32 people, marked the beginning of a comprehensive series of modules, designed to empower LEAs with the expertise needed to effectively leverage cutting-edge technology in their operations.

4th physical plenary meeting

On November 30 and December 1, 2023, the Ceasefire project held its fourth physical plenary meeting, at the facilities of project partner INPT (Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse), in Toulouse, France. Participants engaged in discussions, sharing ideas, assessing their advancements, and aligning their actions to propel the continued development of the Ceasefire system. Emphasis was placed on strengthening cooperation and coordinating with the end-users, to effectively address the project’s ambitious objectives in combating firearms trafficking through the utilization of advanced Artificial Intelligence and criminological analysis.

Ceasefire at IEEE CISOSE 2023

Ceasefire was present at the IEEE International Congress on Intelligent and Service-Oriented Systems Engineering (CISOSE 2023), co-organized by the Harokopio University of Athens and IEEE from July 17th to July 20th, 2023. The conference paper “Illicit item detection in X-ray images for security applications” was presented by HUA’s Ph.D. candidate Georgios Batsis.

3rd physical plenary meeting

On July 4-5 2023, the Ceasefire consortium held its third physical plenary meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, organized by the project partner PSP (Polícia de Segurança Pública). Ceasefire participants exchanged ideas, reviewed their progress and coordinated their efforts towards further advancing the development of the Ceasefire system. The discussions focused on enhancing collaboration and innovation to tackle the project’s ambitious goals of facilitating the struggle against firearms trafficking, using advanced Artificial Intelligence.

2nd physical plenary meeting

On April 4-5, Ceasefire had its 2nd physical plenary meeting in Poland, at the premises of the Provincial Police Headquarters in Gdansk, which is a partner of the project consortium. Members of Ceasefire exchanged ideas and shared progress on this exciting project about combating firearms trafficking, discussing next actions and planning future work.

Physical Kick-Off Meeting

The physical Kick-Off Meeting of Ceasefire took place on December 1-2, 2022, at the premises of project coordinator Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH) in Thessaloniki, Greece. The Ceasefire partners exchanged ideas and planned the next steps of this exciting project.