The STARLIGHT project has successfully completed its 8th and final Operational Pilot, hosted by the Centre for Security Studies (KEMEA) in Athens on 25–26 November 2025. As the coordinating partner for all pilot activities, KEMEA led the organisation, testing, and validation processes, bringing together Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and technical partners from the project’s 50+ member consortium.
On 17 October 2025, the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) presented the STARLIGHT project at the ENFSI Forensic Information Technology Working Group (FITWG) Annual Meeting in Istanbul. The session, delivered on Day 3 of the event, highlighted STARLIGHT’s ethically aligned AI tools for law enforcement and forensics and drew strong interest from attending experts and practitioners.
The meeting brought together specialists from across Europe and beyond to exchange knowledge and explore advances in digital forensics and forensic IT.
STARLIGHT research was presented at the SPIE conference on Artificial Intelligence for Security and Defence Applications (15–18 September 2025, Madrid).
Sabina B. van Rooij (TNO) presented the paper, “Combining and enhancing global and local vision foundation models for explainable tattoo matching,” a collaboration with CERTH. The work demonstrates how combining global and local vision models can improve tattoo matching in criminal investigations while increasing explainability for end-users.
On 21st May 2025, the STARLIGHT project participated in the INVICTM Forum: From Crisis to Collaboration – Strengthening Victim Support through Cooperation, Technology, and Resilience, held in Lisbon. As one of the event sponsors, STARLIGHT supported this important platform for dialogue and exchange on advancing victim support through innovation and collaboration.
On 8th of April 2025, the STARLIGHT project was featured at a high-level event hosted by the Italian Ministry of Interior in Rome, bringing together representatives from EUROPOL, CEA-List, law enforcement agencies, and international participants.
The session focused on demonstrating the operational impact of a selection of STARLIGHT-developed AI tools, including technologies for crowd behaviour analysis, object and logo recognition, synthetic face generation, geo-spatial crime prediction, and migration trend forecasting.
From 8th to 10th April 2025, the STARLIGHT consortium reunited in Palermo for its 42-month General Assembly, hosted by project partner Engineering Group. This three-day meeting brought together law enforcement agencies, technical experts, researchers, and policymakers to assess project progress, validate AI tools in operational settings, and plan the next steps towards completion.
From 4–6 February 2025, the STARLIGHT team participated in the Europol Industry and Research Days at Europol HQ in The Hague, Netherlands. There we engaged with law enforcement agencies, industry leaders, and researchers to explore advancements in AI, biometrics, and cybersecurity.
On 29th January 2025, STARLIGHT representatives attended the International Law Enforcement Cooperation Meeting on Crime Prevention and Innovation in Vilnius, Lithuania. At the event hosted by the Lithuanian Police, law enforcement professionals from across Europe discussed innovation and cooperation in crime prevention.
From 28th to 29th of January 2025, we brought together in Vilnius, Lithuania, co-development teams, law enforcement experts, and international partners to advance the implementation of STARLIGHT technologies.
Organised by Ministère de l’Intérieur, L3CE, and the Lithuanian Police, the workshop aimed to establish a shared methodology for STARLIGHT technology implementation. We focused on strengthening collaboration, addressing key challenges, and fostering the operationalisation of innovative AI solutions for law enforcement.
Welcome to the third edition of the STARLIGHT newsletter!
As we reflect on the past year, the STARLIGHT project has continued to demonstrate significant progress in fostering AI adoption for European Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). We are now entering the fourth and final year of the project, having reached several key milestones across technical, ethical, and operational domains.