Today is a happy day for every single person that is part of I-REACT. After 3 years of hard work, we are finally releasing to the public the first free European app to help citizens against disasters: our smartphone app. With it, you can help keep yourself and your community safe. Did you spot a wildfire? Go to a safe place, snap a picture and upload it, along with some information. The rest of the users will be able to see your report and stay safe. Or maybe you have seen in the news that heavy rain is coming. With our app, you can check if you are at risk of suffering a flood, and be prepared!

We are launching the app today, on the International Day for Disaster Reduction. We want to contribute as much as we can to diminish the impact that disasters have. Just last year, events like floods and wildfires affected more than 95 million people, they killed more than 9,600, and cost a whopping €285 billion, making 2017 the second costliest year on record. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it will get better: climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and intense. We want you to be prepared and to have all the tools you need to fight against disasters. That’s why the app also includes a set of tips & quizzes on what to do before, during and after a weather-related emergency. All of this can be in your pocket: go to Google Play and download the app for free.

 

This week, just before our app launches, we organised a demonstration of the I-REACT technologies in Barcelona. Our partners of Meteosim, UNESCO and ISMB where in charge of presenting in the workshop our set of tools against disasters: from the I-REACTOR that integrates the information coming from multiple sources, to the wearable technologies for first-responders.

But we weren’t in Barcelona only to show our project. A great part of the demonstrations we have held so far involves listening to the needs and demands of all the attendees: Protecció Civil de la Generalitat, Bombers de la Generalitat, Bombers de Barcelona, technicians and personnel of the Agència Catalana de l’Aigua, Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya, Emergencias 112 from Murcia and Pau Costa Foundation. We want to thank all of them for attending our workshop, and hope that together we can build more resilient societies.

After the last full-demonstration in Ipswich, we are going to showcase our technologies throughout Europe. The next date is in November, in Finland. Stay tuned for more information!