Towards an Interoperable Multi-Agency UAS Framework for Civil Protection Emergencies: Operational Experience from the Italian Competence Centres Network

The increasing adoption of UAS in civil protection operations calls for operational frameworks capable of ensuring interoperability, standardization and effective coordination among organizations with different institutional mandates and technical expertise, that may operate simultaneously or jointly for specific needs. In Italy, this challenge is being addressed through the UAS Network of the Civil Protection Competence Centres, established in 2019 to foster cooperation among research centres, environmental agencies and academic institutions operating UAS capabilities in support of the disaster management cycle.

Rather than focusing solely on technology, the Network is developing a shared operational framework based on common procedures, coordinated activation mechanisms, harmonized operational standards, and interoperable information flows. Joint exercises constitute the primary mechanism for validating this framework through an incremental, application-oriented approach.

A series of increasingly complex national exercises drove progressive evolution. The 2023 seismic scenario tested the coordinated deployment of multiple UAS teams; the 2024 hydro-meteorological exercise tested a different multi-risk scenario; the 2025 county-scale exercise introduced more realistic blind-testing conditions to evaluate field performance and network coordination. The national-scale flood exercise EXE Po 2026 enabled, for the first time, the complete validation of the operational chain, from stakeholder requests to task assignment, airspace coordination through the Air Operations Coordination Centre, field operations, and output delivery. This represented a significant step towards integrating UAS capabilities into established civil protection command-and-control processes.

A key enabling component of this framework is the VEGA platform, which supports mission management, georeferenced data collection, operational communication, product sharing, and real-time situational awareness across all operating organizations.

The experience demonstrates that building a national multi-agency UAS framework is an iterative process driven by successive trials, lessons learned, and continuous refinement. While still under development, the approach provides a practical pathway towards standardized, interoperable, and scalable UAS operations capable of supporting complex civil protection emergencies.