19 May 2026 From Brussels to the United Nations: How BITS Became Part of the Global Discussion on Victim Support

When the United Nations recently published its report “Gap Analysis of Digital Tools to Support Victims of Terrorism”, one reference stood out for us personally and professionally.

The report references BITS — the Belgium Incident Tracking System — as an example of a digital platform supporting victim registration, tracking and assistance during large-scale incidents and terrorist attacks.

For BPREPARED, this recognition is meaningful.

Not only because it acknowledges the technology itself, but because it recognises years of operational collaboration between public authorities, emergency services and healthcare partners in Belgium. BITS was never developed as a theoretical platform. It was built in response to real operational lessons learned after the Brussels attacks, with one central objective:

put victims and their families at the centre of crisis response.

From Lessons Learned to Operational Capability

Following the attacks in Brussels, it became clear that large-scale incidents create immediate challenges around:

victim identification
patient tracking
information sharing
family assistance
coordination between organisations
and maintaining situational awareness under extreme pressure.

BITS was developed through a public-private collaboration involving the Belgian Ministry of Health, emergency services and operational stakeholders to address exactly these challenges.

Today, the platform supports:

victim and patient registration
tracking and tracing throughout the response chain
family assistance and reception centres
self-registration of affected persons
operational dashboards and situational awareness
support for evacuations and large-scale emergencies.

The system is now operational nationally in Belgium and has been activated repeatedly during real-life incidents and exercises.

A Global Challenge

The challenges highlighted in the UN report are not unique to Belgium.

Around the world, authorities continue to face difficulties in maintaining an accurate operational overview during crises involving large numbers of victims, displaced persons or affected families.

Many processes still rely heavily on fragmented communication, spreadsheets or disconnected systems — approaches that quickly become insufficient during large-scale incidents.

At the same time, expectations from citizens and families are changing. People increasingly expect:

faster access to information,
better coordination between organisations,
and more victim-centred support during emergencies.

Digital platforms can play an important role in achieving this — not only by improving operational coordination, but by improving the experience and support provided to people affected by crisis.

International Deployment and Adaptation

BITS is available for international deployment and can be adapted to:

national crisis structures
operational workflows
languages
legal frameworks
GDPR and privacy requirements
healthcare and emergency response ecosystems.

The platform continues to evolve based on operational experience, international collaboration and emerging crisis scenarios, including mass evacuations and cross-border patient flow management.

Technology Should Support People

Large-scale incidents will always be chaotic and emotionally overwhelming.

Technology alone cannot remove that reality.

But technology can help organisations respond faster, coordinate better and support victims and families more effectively during the moments that matter most.

Because in crisis response, digital systems should not only support coordination.

They should support people.

 

UN Report Gap Analysis Digital Tools Report

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