Transportation & Aviation

4C Strategies is a world-leading provider of risk, business continuity and crisis management solutions for the public, private and military sectors. Combining expertise with an innovative approach, our advisory services and Exonaut® software suite help you to build, verify and track your readiness capabilities.

4C Strategies has delivered software solutions and management consulting services for major airports, airlines and transport organisations at the European and global level. Our advisory services have included the delivery of tabletop and simulated exercises, development of enterprise risk management frameworks, review of crisis management programs, as well as readiness capability tracking of people, plans and processes against a maturity model. Our Exonaut® software projects provide scalable solutions for training, audits, compliance, as well as incident, risk and crisis management.

In accordance with our ISO 9001 certification, we have developed a well-defined quality assurance methodology. It is based on commonly agreed Rational Unified Process (RUP) for project management. 4C Strategies have several experienced quality controllers whose mission is to evaluate and assure the quality of all our deliveries. Our business continuity and crisis management methodology also follows the international standards ISO 22301 and BS 11200.

For implementation of our software platform Exonaut® we have developed a rapid implementation process where we usually go-live within 6-12 weeks of project start-up, although the time needed will depend on the client’s existing systems that require integration.

A project involving business continuity and crisis management training and exercises usually takes 2-6 months. However, we also have long-term client partnerships that entail program reviews, GAP-analyses, bench-marking comparisons, as well as multi-sector training and exercise programs spanning several years. We tailor all of our projects to the needs of each specific client, from local municipalities to major multinational companies, airports, rail companies and the armed forces.

By integrating a mobile app, dynamic mapping tool, and incident reporting system, Exonaut®  enables your personnel – whether on or off-site –  to submit and access the relevant, real-time data which drives informed decision making. Data is captured from operational staff or control programs via Exonaut®’s  mobile observer app, email surveys and external API’s. All data is verified centrally and presented in custom dashboards to the Situation Centre. Further benefits include:

• Automated, customisable reporting function
• Increased situational awareness and risk-informed decision-making
• Cost efficient allocation of resources
• Real-time monitoring of risk mitigation activities to minimize risk exposure
• Reduced financial and reputational impact of incidents
• Digital audit trail for effective after-action review and development of best practice
• Increased ability to deliver on strategic objectives
• Facilitation of compliance obligations
• Reduced cost of

The same easy-to-use system is used for day-to-day activities and during a crisis, ensuring a smooth transition to emergency situations and building a broader safety, security and resilience culture.

Having delivered projects to aviation and transportation clients for over a decade, we have a comprehensive understanding of regulatory requirements, emerging threats, and sector-specific best practice. How often you should exercise is dependent on the size and type of the organisation and sector-specific risks. Generally, the crisis management teams of a small to mid-size organisation should exercise at least once a year in order to keep their capability to respond effectively to major events. Larger and more complex organisations tend to require more frequent trainings and exercises.

A tabletop exercise carried out as round-table discussions focused on the impact of different scenarios and decision-making procedures. This exercise is meant to be a learning experience for newly formed crisis management teams or somewhat immature organisations. The exercise is designed to be an informal meeting and the target audience is encouraged to react and openly discuss the issues that arise from of the scenario. This type of exercise is suitable for organisations that have not previously exercised or that simply need to develop new plans and strategies.

Simulation exercises, on the other hand, are carried out ‘live’ with roles and responsibilities acted out in real-time, in order to practice managing incidents in a more realistic setting. During simulation exercises the target audience reacts to realistic events that are gradually introduced by exercise managers. Compared to a tabletop exercise, where the scenario is presented via PowerPoint or printed hand-outs, simulation exercises are more advanced as the scenario is simulated via phone calls, fake press conferences and media injects (YouTube-clips, social media postings, etc.). The simulation exercise allows for a higher degree of training and verification but it also requires more resources and advanced planning.

Distributed simulation exercises allow for the simultaneous testing of scenarios and incident management at several locations. A distributed exercise often focuses on communication and coordination across time and space and allows for complex and pressing demands to be simulated in a highly realistic manner.

As new safety, security and quality assurance risks emerge; regulatory authorities are imposing new, increasingly onerous compliance obligations on the aviation and transportations sectors. For example, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has introduced extensive incident reporting requirements in order for European airports to receive and maintain their certification status. Our Exonaut® compliance tracking and reporting tool may cut down the time and cost of meeting regulatory demands and help you stay up-to-date on new developments.

Our model for structured crisis management can be used during any type of crisis. 4C Strategies has 20 years of experience in working with all types of crises, from reputational to operational and financial, with a particular recent need for cyber-related exercises.