Professor Diofantos G. Hadjimitsis provided a thorough presentation of the EXCELSIOR project during the final meeting of the DECATASTROPHIZE project on 4th and 5th of December 2017. The DECATASTROPHIZE demonstrated a Command Post / Table Top Exercise in Aloe hotel, in Paphos, while in the following day a workshop was organized. Both the exercise and the workshop concerned the use / demonstration of the final product of the EU co-funded project (DECATASTROPHIZE) which is an online platform to be used in preparation and prevention multi-hazards, i.e. natural disasters.
This project deals with the creation of an online platform for the early warning, preparation and prevention of natural disasters. The use of the platform helps the decision makers (e.g., Civil Defence, Fire Brigade, Department of Forests, etc.) to take the right decisions in disaster management and which are required to take thorough decisions under the pressure of time.
The partners involved in the project are: Cyprus University of Technology (Coordinator), Cyprus Civil Defence, Atlantis Consulting Company (Cyprus), French Geological Survey (Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières), Foundation for Research & Technology (Greece), Technical University of Crete (Greece), Geoview Systems Számítástechnikai Kft. (Hungary), European Research Institute (Italy), Geosolutions (Italy) and University of Alcala (Spain).
Prof. Hadjimitsis, Dr Kouta, Dr Papoutsa and Mr Mettas had the opportunity to promote EXCELSIOR during the workshop and the final exercise. Prof. Hadjimitsis presented the 10 years activities of the ERATOSTHENES R.C in the areas of space, remote sensing and geoinformatics. He demonstrated the importance of using Copernicus data for the disaster management.
DECATASTROPHIZE’s budget amounts to € 875,000 and is co-funded by 75% of the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) and 25% by own contribution.
