Who are the PCP WISE partners driving innovation in water management and climate resilience across Europe through Pre-Commercial Procurement?
Our Partner Interview Series highlights the leading organisations in the PCP WISE consortium, showcasing their expertise, contributions, and key roles in the project.
Each partner also shares its vision of how PCP WISE advances the European Green Deal’s objectives—whether by leveraging Environmental Observation (EO) data to tackle critical challenges or pioneering innovative governance and procurement approaches like PCP.
🔍 Discover our latest interview to learn more about the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) and its impact!
Briefly introduce your organisation
The German Federal Agency for Technical Relief, known as Technisches Hilfswerk (THW), is a federal organisation specialising in technical and humanitarian assistance. Supported by around 88,000 trained volunteers, the THW responds to natural disasters, accidents and other emergencies both within Germany and internationally. The THW’s range of operations is broad, encompassing search and rescue missions following earthquakes, flood protection, digital mapping of affected areas to improve decision-making and technical support for critical infrastructure. Equipped with specialised units and modern technology, the THW is capable of providing effective assistance in a wide variety of emergency situations, thereby helping to safeguard the population.
Introduce the team working on PCP WISE within your organisation
Olga Horn serves as Scientific Project Officer in the THW’s Research Department, focusing on PCP WISE and pre-commercial procurement. Prior to joining the THW, she worked for over 10 years in the field of sustainable urban development, including projects with cities on climate adaptation. She has an academic background in international business economics, environmental studies and sustainability science, GIS and psychology.
© Christine Rasquin / THW
She is supported by the THW’s Virtual Operations Support Team, who provide specialised expertise in geospatial analysis, situational awareness, and the integration of Earth Observation data into operational emergency response scenarios.
Their collaboration ensures smooth project management, continuous engagement with the PCP WISE partners and suppliers, and alignment with the THW’s practical operational needs.
What is your organisation’s role in the project? What unique contribution does it bring to PCP WISE?
The THW participates in PCP WISE as public buyer and contributes a unique emergency response perspective to the shaping of the PCP WISE prototypes, particularly with regard to the sector’s specific operational requirements. In addition, the THW will organise two table-top exercises to evaluate the final prototypes in realistic emergency response scenarios. Table-top exercises are discussion-based simulations in which participants work through crisis situations in a structured setting. Within PCP WISE these exercises will focus on flooding and forest fires, respectively, and will assess the prototypes’ suitability and user-friendliness, as well as their ability to deliver timely and detailed information to support improved decision-making during crisis situations.
To what extent do you think PCP WISE will contribute to enhance Europe’s ability to adapt to and mitigate the effect of climate change?
The proposed PCP WISE prototypes will have the potential to strengthen the capacity of emergency response organizations across Europe to better anticipate and respond to water-related challenges that are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change. Through the provision of timely and granular information on soil–water–vegetation conditions, and by supporting decision-making prior to and during extreme events such as floods and wildfires, PCP WISE can enhance Europe’s overall climate adaptation capacity and help reduce the impacts of climate-related disasters on people, infrastructure, and the environment.
To what extent do you think Environmental Observation (EO) and Innovation Procurement (IP) can help develop innovative solutions for water management and climate resilience across Europe?
Environmental Observation (EO) combined with Innovation Procurement (IP) offers a unique opportunity to develop solutions that truly meet the needs of emergency response organizations. Through PCP WISE’s pre-commercial procurement approach, the group of public buyers can collaborate with the private sector to shape prototypes that reflect real operational requirements. EO data, integrated into digital mapping tools and situational awareness applications, provide timely, detailed insights into soil, water, and vegetation conditions, enhancing emergency responders’ ability to anticipate and respond to floods and wildfires. Together, EO and IP help deliver practical, user-centered solutions that strengthen Europe’s climate resilience and emergency response capabilities.
