Researchers develop new system to manage pandemics

The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology is taking a leading role in a new EU project called STAMINA, in which a new system for managing future pandemics is being developed. Over the next two years, 38 partners from more than a dozen countries will jointly develop an intelligent system to support decision-making in the prediction and management of pandemics. The system will then be demonstrated at national and regional levels in the EU and beyond. The system will support first responders, practitioners, hospitals and pandemic crisis managers in their daily work.

State-of-the-art procedures and technologies will be used, such as modelling, early warning systems (e.g. by analysing social media), on-site screening methods or management tools (e.g. for the distribution of responsibilities), moreover, joint situation reports and training scenarios will be developed. In addition, the EU project is developing a guideline for risk communication and optimal procedures for cooperation between different organisations. All new tools will be tested in twelve regional trial runs and a major simulation exercise.

The AIT Center for Digital Safety & Security has many years of experience in the field of crisis and disaster management and is contributing a number of proven systems from its research focus to the STAMINA project, which are now being adapted and further developed for use in pandemic management. These include, for example, the "Emergency Maps Tool" (EMT), which enables the merging of spatial information into a common information system, or the "Public Safety Hub" (PSH), which syntactically and semantically compares data from different areas, thereby creating a common information space. Of particular importance is the use of the "Portfolio of Solutions" (PoS) and the "Trial Guidance Tool" (TGT), which are used in all trial runs and the large-scale cross-border exercise to support planning, processing and evaluation. The AIT coordinates all these tests.

The STAMINA project will start in September 2020 and has a volume of eleven million euros, 9.5 million euros of which will come from the EU research programme "Horizon 2020". The Greek company EXUS is coordinating the project. Austrian project partners include AIT and Johanniter Austria.