Early Warning and Public Alerts

Chile is highly vulnerable to numerous natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic activity and tsunamis, as well as threats which can vary due to climate change
Recent climate changes have intensified the frequency, intensity, exposure, and magnitude of the natural hazards that have historically affected Chile such as wildfires, floods and landslides, droughts, and the impact of the rise in sea level.
All of these risks and hazards have important implications for public safety and the overall economic growth of the country.

SMART Public Warning System for Governments was implemented on a national level to alert the Chilean population when there are natural hazards in the country. The system integrated with the SENAPRED disaster response service and provides multi-channel alerts and notifications to citizens. Due to the immense natural dangers, the system was configured to provide very high availability and geo-site redundancy to stand up to the harshest security and reliability requirements.

Reducing casualties by a factor of 100!

Prior to implementing SMART, Chile suffered a massive earthquake that measured 8.8 on the Richter scale, in which 560 people were killed due to the tsunami that followed it. Following this event, SMART was deployed and during the next massive earthquake (8.3 on the Richter scale) SMART alerts were sent to the population and the death toll was only 5 people! 

The Municipality of Acre houses one of the largest centers for heavy industries and chemical plants where any potential problem arising from these operations could result in environmental contamination, explosions and fires, and eventually pose a severe health risk to the population. Due to this high risk, the municipality decided to implement a public warning system to warn employees, the general population and first responders to take timely actions to reduce their personal risks.

SMART Public Warning System for Communities was delivered to Acre and integrated with the safe city systems that have been used by the municipality.

SMART enabled municipality officials to send geo-targeted alerts to the population related to industrial hazards, crimes, violence and other dangers that could affect the population’s safety and welfare, as well as general information for the community.

Additionally, the SMART mobile app, with its bi-directional communication capabilities between the SMART system and the end-user, enables citizens to send personal distress (PANIC) messages to the city emergency center which is operated 24/7. These messages include the user’s location and supporting information (via text, voice message, video, images) which is used to efficiently guide the first responders that are called in to the event (security, Police, Fire, medical).

The system ensures the lives of the citizens are protected and that they are notified in real time about any hazard or threat.

Israel is located on the geological Syrian-African fault and suffers from a major earthquake every 100 years. As such, the country has to prepare itself for a strong earthquake that might occur any time in the near future. In addition, given Israel’s geographic circumstances and the fact that the majority of both its industry and citizens are concentrated in 35% of its area, the population is very vulnerable to any kind of critical event.

SMART Public Warning System for Governments was selected to provide alerts and notifications of disasters in the country. Developed in collaboration with Israel’s Home Front Command, the objective of the system is to ensure that the entire Israeli population is informed in a timely manner and can reach protective shelter and take the appropriate measures. The system underwent the most rigorous tests imaginable, redefining industry benchmarks and has been used in recent years to protect the Israeli population from different types of critical events.