On Monday 8 April 2019, the annual VEO Network meeting CE took place in Expo in Houten. As in previous years, there was a large turnout and there were many participants from central government, municipalities, water boards, clients, consultants and detection companies.

VEO looks back on a very successful meeting. The new set-up with parallel sessions has produced many interesting discussions and valuable input that we can further discuss and elaborate on in the various working groups. The programme consisted of three rounds of interactive parallel sessions. The following five topics were discussed during these parallel sessions:

1. Draft Guidelines on demarcation of suspected area
A working group of experts from VEO members has evaluated annex 3 of the WSCS-OCE with the guidelines for the definition of the suspected area. The results can be read in the draft report Evaluation of the guidelines for the definition of the suspected area. During the parallel session, we will discuss this report, the reactions from the consultation round and the follow-up.

2. Assessment framework for vibrations in a CE suspected area
There is much uncertainty about the question of what level of vibration is acceptable within a CE-suspected area, in relation to the risk of unwanted CE activation. In 2015 and 2016, TNO carried out a scientific study on this subject. TNO recommends follow-up research to arrive at a scientifically substantiated standard. That research has not (yet) taken place. In the absence of a scientific foundation, action must be taken in practice on the basis of available knowledge and practical experience. To help with this, practical experts among the VEO members have developed an assessment framework. The assessment framework was presented and discussed in this parallel session.

3. Amendment to WSCS-OCE and introduction of voluntary Pre-examination & Risk Analysis Certificate
It is expected that in 2019 the amended WSCS-OCE will be implemented and the requirements for the preliminary examination will lapse. VEO advocates the rapid introduction of the voluntary Certification Scheme for Preliminary Examination and Risk Analysis CE. During this parallel session, clients were updated on the most important changes in the WSCS-OCE and we discussed how to deal with the transitional situation and the introduction of the new certification scheme for Preliminary Examination and Risk Analysis.

4. Model specification provisions OCE
A consultative group consisting of representatives of Rotterdam Municipalities, the Government Property Agency, Arcadis (also on behalf of the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management) and several members of the VEO has drawn up Model Specifications for Detecting Conventional Explosives. Clients and specifiers can use these model clauses as a source document when drawing up specifications and requests for work. In this parallel session, we discussed our experiences with these model clauses in practice.

5. Data exchange (Bomb Map) and data management
The availability and analysis of data plays an important role in preliminary investigations and risk analyses. A lot of data is collected in the sector. A current theme is what opportunities there are for collecting and analysing data more systematically and sharing knowledge about it. In this parallel session, this was reflected upon. The experiences with the VEO Bomb Map were also discussed.