Immediate assistance in case of emergency is provided to students, professors and staff of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), by activating the “Panic Button” function of the “Campus Safety” service, developed by the e-Government Center of the institution (KH -ΑΠΘ).
A touch on the application, on the mobile phone screen of any member of the university community moving on campus and recognizing a safety threat or danger to his health, will be enough to immediately mobilize the AUTh security service and deal with the incident.
The service will be available within days to the university community of AUTh and immediately accessible by installing the relevant application (app) for mobile smart devices (mobile and tablets), through digital application distribution platforms. By pressing the alarm button, users will be notified of their location via the GPS geolocation feature, so that immediate help can be rushed to the scene. This is a pioneering service for Greek data, applied in major universities in Europe, the USA and Canada.
In the recent meeting he had with the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and in a relevant memorandum submitted to him last September, at the TIF, the Rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Professor Nikos Papaioannou presented the innovative application “Panic Button”, which aims to consolidate the sense security for those moving on campus. For this reason, he even announced the intention of the AUTh to provide its know-how for the development of the application, in any other university institutions in the country wishing to offer it to their members.
“The goal is to consolidate the feeling of security”
“From the beginning of the academic year 2019-20, we have implemented as an absolute priority a comprehensive plan to deal with crime within the campus of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, which had taken on uncontrolled action of all kinds of criminal elements,” his rector told APE-MPE Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, referring to a PAMAK investigation into incidents of violence and lawlessness in the country’s universities in the period 2011-17, which “gave the Aristotle University the sad first with 113 out of 358 recorded incidents across the country, which included arsons, armed robberies “, burglaries, beatings, drug trafficking, rape.”
“The prosecution of criminal elements could not be done without the assistance of public authorities, which exercise all their legal responsibilities on campus, as an integral part of Greek territory. It is a battle that is given and will be given every day, when for many years, the campus of AUTh due to its large area, its many entrances, its many buildings had become a refuge for traffickers, robbers, rapists. So after redesigning the operation and layout of the security service and practical interventions were made, such as locking the entrances of buildings and campus at night, pruning shrubs, completed lighting projects, today any new attempts at criminal activity within the AUTh we face in to give birth to it “, pointed out Mr. Papaioannou.
In this context, he explained that “the panic button is a tool that we believe will significantly contribute to the consolidation of our members’ sense of security, both through the prevention of crimes by the immediate mobilization of the security service, and by the possibility of immediate to identify those who are attempting to commit a crime “.
The usefulness of the panic button, as explained by the Rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, is not limited to addressing the security threats of members of the university community from criminal elements, as “activating it will mobilize the university services in cases of natural disasters, fires, emergencies for the disabled, but also in medical emergencies “.
“The university must return to society the knowledge and innovation produced in its laboratories, as well as reciprocate to its members for their offer, the benefits of technologies that are transformed into services. This is our role, our duty “, concluded Mr. Papaioannou, expressing gratitude to the members of Aristotle who contributed to the implementation of the service.
“How the Punic Button application works and the measures to prevent its abuse”
The Panic Button application is based on Geographic Information Systems infrastructures using the GPS positioning capabilities of mobile devices (tablets or mobile phones) outdoors, and Wi-Fi fingerprinting technology to determine the location of the event indoors.
In order to avoid any abuse of the service, the mobile application requires the user’s certification through the institutional account of the AUTh member. The use of the service is completely optional, while the AUTh collects only the data that are absolutely necessary to serve the purpose of the service, according to the law for the protection of personal data.
The basic functionality of the system includes the Panic Button with off-site campus location, location with map indication, support for Android devices, central cartographic event management platform, while support for iOS devices is already planned and further expansion of the application capabilities such as locating indoor locations with great precision, guiding response teams, sending push notifications to users.
The service is implemented with the care of the e-Government Center of AUTh, in collaboration with an external contractor with research experience in geospatial data and utilizing the existing geospatial infrastructure of AUTh (GIS system of AUTh)
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