The SITAFS Action provides scientific and technical support to EU policies concerned with global security and crisis management, especially those concerned with the protection of the EU budget, enhancing the EU’s conflict prevention capabilities and the effectiveness of the EU’s external aid.

SITAFS contributes to these EU policies and related scientific challenges by applying, developing and implementing innovative data mining and statistical techniques to massive trade related datasets and by developing web-based systems for storing, retrieving and using effectively and efficiently external aid information from various donors.

SITAFS works closely with services in the European Commission, EU MSs (e.g. customs and tax authorities), and international organisations (e.g. Kimberley Process partners).

Examples of SITAFS’ activities include:

• Applying SITAFS’ extensive in-house competence in Statistics and Information Technologies for diverse fraud control and money laundering problems.

• Applying SITAFS’ extensive in-house competence in Statistics and Information Technologies to contribute to the implementation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS); an international agreement established to keep “conflict diamonds” from entering the legitimate trade of rough diamonds and thus to guarantee International security.

• Developing solutions for gathering, retrieval and analysis of external aid information to support the sharing of information across donors and to use EU external aid funds more effectively.