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Bushfire Hazard Detection System Being Developed in Australia

Image Credits: The University of Queensland, Press Release

A world-first real-time bushfire hazard detection and warning system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) is under development thanks to a new partnership between the University of Queensland and the philanthropic arm of an American multinational technology company. Led by UQ’s Professor Hamish McGowan, from the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the project plans to use AI to trace the movement of embers and deliver real-time nowcasts of extreme bushfire hazards.

The goal of the team’s work is ultimately to save lives, property and the environment by providing increased accuracy in forecasting bushfire movements and alerting community members and emergency responders before they spread, he said.

The $1.374 million grant from the charitable arm of the tech giant will enable UQ researchers to work on a new and robust capability to identify and forewarn locations up to 30 kilometres downwind from the fire front that may come under attack from embers – sometimes in areas previously perceived as safe.

In addition to funding the company’s philanthropic arm, the firm’s employees will have the opportunity to volunteer their time to help with this project. The Australian branch of the company’s Engineering Site Lead said UQ was charting new territory in bushfire detection.

The project will benefit Australia by identifying new AI solutions to detect bushfire activity – early on and in real-time –to safeguard at-risk communities, flora and fauna. Initiatives like this will help build a strong and more resilient digital future for Australia.

It has been just over two years since Australia’s Black Summer bushfires burnt an estimated 186,000 square kilometres of land. The impacts were devastating, with at least 33 people losing their lives, and fires destroying more than 6000 buildings, as well as killing or displacing an estimated three billion animals.

“We know that the effects of climate change are causing more extreme weather events including bushfires across the world and we are committed to helping find solutions that can lessen the impact,” Professor McGowan said.

The fallout of the 2019-20 bushfire season also saw smoke-related health costs climb to $1.95 billion. There were 429 smoke-related premature deaths in addition to 3230 hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory disorders and 1523 emergency attendances for asthma.

In similar news, a Griffith University-led three-year project to develop an early warning system in homes during extreme heat events has received more than $2 million in funding. The EtHOs project was awarded $2.35 million by a global charitable foundation to help limit the thousands of lives lost each year to heat stress.

Led by Dr Shannon Rutherford, from the School of Medicine and Dentistry, EtHOs is a multidisciplinary research team within the Climate Action research group that includes experts in aged-care nursing, IT, human physiology, engineering, climate science, health economics and environmental epidemiology.

The team recognised that climate change would lead to more extreme and frequent heat episodes and said action must be taken to reduce the risk to older populations who were more vulnerable to heat stress.

They aim is to develop an individualised early warning system for older people living at home specific to their home environment and to take into consideration that different people may be vulnerable to heat for different reasons and everyone has different needs for and levels of access to cooling options.

The team would like older people living at home and in the community to have access to a system that helps them, their families and care systems feel safe and confident in their homes as the world experiences more frequent and more intense heat events.

The heat stress early warning system’s appearance and how users interacted with it would depend on the perspectives of the project’s users and project partners.

Dr Sebastian Binnewies, from the Institute for Integrated and Intelligent Systems, will oversee the software development, testing and integration process. Dr Aaron Bach, from Cities Research Institute, will lead the development of the in-home monitoring system and the heat-health algorithm used to identify risk profiles.

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Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

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SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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