In the face of a changing world, disasters, whether natural or man-made, remain one of the most pressing threats to the safety and well-being of communities. Forest fires, floods, devastating earthquakes, pandemics (Covid-19), industrial accidents, and many other tragic events regularly test our ability to prevent, respond to, and recover from them.

In this context, technological advances play a crucial role in improving our ability to cope with disasters. Monitoring, communication, and crisis management technologies help strengthen our ability to anticipate disasters, coordinate our response efforts, and accelerate the process of resilience.

In each phase of a disaster, technologies can be exploited. For example, in the pre-disaster phase, technologies can be used to monitor weather conditions, detect natural disaster risks and improve infrastructure design. Early warning systems can also be useful in alerting people of the risks of natural disasters before they occur. During crises, technologies can be used to facilitate the coordination of relief, locate victims, determine needs, etc. Finally, in the post-crisis phase disaster, technologies such as drones can be used to provide medical assistance in disaster-affected areas, and other technologies such as virtual or augmented reality can serve to train and prepare first responders to deal with emergency situations.

With this in mind, and as part of the Himaya Innov’days 2024 Innovation Days, the CERIST (Research Centre on Scientific and Technical Information), in collaboration with the Algerian Civil Protection, the University Yahia Farès of Medea, and the DGRSDT (Directorate-General for Scientific Research and Technological Development) is organizing a hackathon with the following main objectives:

Drive innovation by bringing together creative minds to solve complex disaster management problems;
Foster interdisciplinary and cross-sectional collaboration to develop innovative solutions for emergency situations;
Develop functional prototypes and practical and operational ideas to address the specific challenges of disaster management;
Create an environment conducive to learning, experimentation and development of concrete and functional solutions dedicated to disaster management;
Encourage entrepreneurship advance ideas and support initiatives that have a positive impact on society in the field of civil protection.

MAIN TRACKS
Track 1: Forest fires
In Algeria the problem of forest fires is acute because of its devastating impact, the scarcity of forests and the threats of desertification make these fires have a particularly disastrous impact. Algeria has only 4.1 million hectares of forests or an afforestation rate of 1.76%, but the close frequency of fires that occur with a return interval of less than 10 years has a catastrophic impact on the ecological and human plan. Forest fires thus represent a serious threat to the economy, the environment, and, unfortunately, too often, to human lives. In order to better understand the spread and evolution of these fires, to identify areas at risk, to provide support to civil protection teams engaged in the fight against flames, and ultimately, to save lives, new technologies are positioned as valuable tools to optimize prevention and control approaches and prioritize interventions.

Track 2: Flooding
Floods are a major risk on the national territory. Once triggered, the flood phenomenon quickly becomes difficult to control and this can lead to significant property damage and consequent loss of life. Providing predictive mapping of floods and an accurate assessment of their impacts on the population, buildings and critical infrastructure become necessary to control these disasters and limit their impacts. Exploitation of the fields of artificial intelligence, computer vision (image analysis) and numerical modeling can provide access to new environmental measures and provide new information not only to help predict immediate flood threats, but also to improve prevention strategies, of anticipation and intervention.

Track 3: Psychological support for disaster victims
Cet axe s’intéresse à explorer des solutions novatrices visant à fournir un soutien psychologique efficace et accessible aux personnes touchées par des catastrophes. L’objectif est de développer des solutions technologiques innovantes qui permettent aux intervenants de fournir un soutien psychologique immédiat, mais aussi à plus long terme, de suivre les traumatismes liés à une catastrophe.
Les participants sont encouragés à penser de manière créative et à intégrer des technologies telles que l’intelligence artificielle (IA), la réalité virtuelle ou augmentée, ainsi que l’analyse de données, pour concevoir des solutions personnalisées et adaptées aux besoins spécifiques des victimes de traumatismes liés aux catastrophes.


Track 4: Open track
Other natural and technological risks

This axis deliberately left open, aims to stimulate the creativity of participants by exploring solutions related to societal challenges such as technological risks or other emerging natural risks. The goal is to foster innovative ideas and approaches that can better understand, prevent and mitigate these risks while focusing on integrated and holistic solutions. Participants are encouraged to take a holistic view to build resilience to the multiple challenges of these emerging risks.

Technologies of interest
- Artificial Intelligence (machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, etc.);
- Mobile applications and digital platforms for coordination and communication between disaster management actors;
- Advanced networks: IoT, 5G, ad hoc networks, remote sensing, etc.
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS);
- Open Source/Open Data/Open Innovation
- Social networks, sentiment analysis and crowdsourcing;
- Evacuation and rescue systems;
- Big Data Analytics and Data Mining
- Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality/Extended Reality;
- Simulation of the effects of natural and technological disasters (forest fires, floods, earthquakes, technological hazards, etc.);
- Disaster modeling and simulation;
- Autonomous vehicles (drones) and robots;
- Remote Sensing and Satellite Imagery;
- Early warning systems;
- Digital twins


Organizing Committee

- Ali AMRAOUI, Direction Générale de la Protection Civile (DGPC)
- Djamal BELAZZOUGUI, CERIST
- Tarek BELHACHEMI, Direction Générale de la Protection civile de la Wilaya de Médéa
- Kahina BENABDERRAHIM eps OUAZZOUG, CERIST
- Khedidja BENNADJI, CERIST
- Nadir BOUCHAMA, CERIST
- Wahiba BOUZAROUR, CERIST
- Messaoud CHAA, CERIST
- Abdelfetah HENTOUT, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Technologies Avancées (ENSTA)
- Rezki OULD MOHAMED, CERIST
- Hocine SAADI, CERIST
- Allal TIBERKAK, Université Yahia Farès de Médéa
- Saïd YAHIAOUI, CERIST
- Bilal YALAOUI, CERIST

PARTICIPATION

Who can participate ?
The hackathon is open to a broad range of participants, including:
- PhD students, undergraduate students;
- Researchers;
- Practitioners, developers and designers;
- Anyone with a passion in new technologies and innovative solutions.

Conditions of participation
- Pre-registration online within the deadline;
- The idea of the project must fit the objectives and themes of the hackathon;
- To encourage new and innovative solutions, the idea should not be driven by an existing startup or commercial enterprise;
- The idea must not be brought or supported by a startup or an already established commercial company;
- Compliance with applicable laws;
- Each participating team must have between two and four members;
- The equipment provided by each team must not represent any danger to the participants and its dimensions must not exceed the following limits: 1 cubic metre;
- Be of Algerian nationality or reside in Algeria.

Team building
Each participating team must be represented by at most three or four members.

Evaluation criteria
- Feasibility;
- Maturity (existence of a prototype);
- Originality;
- Relevance (to civil protection).


CONTACT

Tel : +213 23 25 54 59
E-mail: himaya-innov@cerist.dz


WEBSITE
http://himaya-innov.cerist.dz/