Presented earlier today, Tuesday, the assisted by Artificial Intelligence civil protection system CiviCS/Dryads, of the Scanlab research group of the Informatics and Telecommunications department of the Ethnikos and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the company PPROBOTEK.

In the presence of the Deputy Minister of Development, responsible for innovation and new technologies, Zois Raptiof the general secretary of Coordination and Waste Management of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, Manolis Grafakos, of the deputy regional governor Civil Protection of the Region of Attica, Leonidas Manolakou, representatives of the academic community, municipal authorities, the fire brigade and the company Huawei, which financed the program, there was a first demonstration of the possibilities of the program, which aspires to provide a solution, not only in the part of prevention fires, but also in the management of emergency situations, such as the evacuation of areas.

The program has four main functions: 1. Prevention, 2. Detection (fire, smoke) 3. Forecasting the extension of the phenomenon and 4. Population management in emergency situations (information, evacuation).

“Technology and artificial intelligence bring radical changes in every field and one such example is the ‘Dryades’ system”, said Mrs. Rapti in her greeting and described the system as “innovative” and “particularly important for the protection of human beings lives”.

“This is an excellent example of cooperation between a research group, a start-up company, promoting research and innovation. This is what is required in connecting research with the labor market, so that we have the possibility to translate into tangible results, in goods and services for the benefit of society as a whole”, he concluded.

For his part, Mr. Grafakos mentioned that there is already “substantial cooperation” with the team of the professor of the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, Nancys Alonistiotis who leads the Scanlab team.

In fact, he noted the need for a solution to the given needs of the country and more specifically, he referred to the problem of the uncontrolled accumulation of waste in areas – mainly – of the region. He also announced that the specific system will be piloted in specific areas, in collaboration with the Scanlab team.

“Result of the dynamic connection of academic research activity with the market and innovation. The project presented today is a living example of how academic research can and does implement solutions with a direct, substantial impact on society”, Karagiannis, EKPA vice-chancellor responsible for Research and Innovation, said in his greeting.

“It only takes 15 minutes to do the damage. Within this margin of 15 minutes, we can control the phenomenon and prevent it from spreading. What we are showing today, therefore, comes to give the time ‘window’ that the authorities need to be informed, organized and coordinated. It is important, how the academic knowledge and the experience of the market people can create such a state-of-the-art system”, pointed out Panagiotis Apostolopoulos, one of the co-founders of PROBOTEK.

Finally, from the side of Huawei, which has undertaken the financing of the program, Ren Fujun, CEO of Huawei Southeast Europe, emphasized the importance of technology in improving people’s lives, but also in protecting the environment. He appeared optimistic that in the future there will be more similar systems that will respond to the challenges of the time, providing solutions with added value and emphasized that the company will remain on the side of such initiatives.

Greetings were also addressed by the mayor of Vari-Voulas-Vouliagmeni Grigoris Konstandelos, the mayor of Nisyros Christofis Koronaios (via video) and the president of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences Dionysis Kyriakopoulos, who underlined the importance of having a reliable system in order to prevent and deal with the maximum possible natural disasters.

How does it work

Presenting the system, Professor Nancy Alonistioti emphasized that it is a system that is designed to “support the making of critical decisions and to support the business effort process”.

It is, as he characteristically said, a “Swiss army knife”, which can be a multi-tool in the hands of the right people.

As mentioned above, the system operates on four levels. First, on the prevention side, sensors, fixed cameras and drones are deployed to monitor areas, synthesize data and draw conclusions about what is happening in each area, such as, for example, a high concentration of dry branches near urban or peri-urban forests.

Second, in the detection part, in an automated way, people in an operational center can receive alerts, which can be an aid during the surveillance of an area and at the same time, information is provided to the central system.

Thirdly, a prediction is made, based on the weather conditions of the moment, the geomorphology and the microclimate of the area, how the phenomenon will evolve and at the same time data is extracted on how the phenomenon can be dealt with. Particularly important is that it can be identified where people are and which of them are directly at risk from the phenomenon. Evacuation plans are created from the system based on the data of the moments and the infrastructures that monitor the phenomenon.

Fourth, by using an application, citizens are immediately informed about the evolution of the phenomenon, but also about the evacuation plan, as long as this is decided by the authorities. In fact, it is planned to provide personalized updates and information, based on the area, on how the fire will develop and if evacuation is decided, they are given escape routes.