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NarcoScan pocket-sized and affordable narcotics screener: making drug detection on the streets as common as catching drunk drivers

Objective

Every year, EU citizens spend over €24 billion on illicit narcotics. Over 29 million people globally suffer from drug abuse – which is more people than all the Nordic countries combined. The key to limiting drug proliferation lies in the first-responder law enforcement to effectively detect narcotics in the field. However, the current tools and ways of working are not efficient in making quick and correct arrests of drug criminals, nor for discovering criminal organisations.

We are introducing NarcoScan – the first pocket-sized scanner for first responders, such as police patrols, to quickly and accurately detect any type of illicit narcotics on the street. Being 20+ times less expensive than alternatives, NarcoScan uniquely enables mass-deployment of narcotics screeners.

By combining our innovative spectral sensing technology with cloud and device-to-device connectivity, we have arrived at a disruptive solution that will make screening narcotics on the streets as ubiquitous as breathalysers for detecting drunk drivers. Our drug database is updated as soon as new narcotics appear on the streets, and the updates are deployed immediately across all the scanners on the field – just like antivirus databases are updated in computers.

NarcoScan will bring at least €125 million in direct cost savings per year to the European criminal justice system. The impact of our solution extends further to the European society by reducing the size of illegal economy, improving the efficiency of police work (faster arrests, faster confessions, avoiding false arrests), and contributing to building healthier and more secure environments.

Having proven the technical and economic viability of our solution through extensive feasibility studies, the main goal of our Phase 2 project is to prepare for global growth by building our technical backbone into a globally scalable and rich technical solution.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017

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Coordinator

SPECTRAL ENGINES OY
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 355 937,50
Address
KUTOMOTIE 18
00380 Helsinki
Finland

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Manner-Suomi Helsinki-Uusimaa Helsinki-Uusimaa
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 3 365 625,00
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