Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney are utilising artificial intelligence and the existing phone network to predict severe weather events.
From the left: Distinguished Professor Jay Guo, TPG Telecom Chief Technology Officer Giovanni Chiarelli, NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York, Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib, UTS Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Parfitt and Dean of the UTS Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology Peta Wyeth. Picture by Andy Roberts.
An exciting partnership has emerged between the NSW State Emergency Service (SES), UTS researchers and TPG Telecom, with a shared goal of developing and testing network sensing technology.
This technology will gather localised weather data, such as rainfall, water level and river flows, using signals transmitted on the communications network. Artificial intelligence will also be used to calculate risks to communities, allowing for targeted information to be sent via alerts.
NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib stated, “Researching this technology is an opportunity to pioneer a new era of flood and storm intelligence. As we face increasingly severe weather influence by climate change, we are supporting the NSW State Emergency Service with technology that could help communities access important storm and flood information quicker.”
This landmark partnership between UTS, TPG Telecom, NSW SES and the NSW Government has the potential to place NSW and Australia at the forefront of how new telecommunication technologies can help in addressing climate challenges and saving lives.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Parfitt
Notably, network sensing technology is not limited to weather monitoring and emergency predictability. Distinguished Professor Jay Guo acknowledged that the future of network sensing is limitless. “It could include traffic management, object and intruder detection for smart transport, collision avoidance, search and rescue and health and sports monitoring.”
Funded through Transport for NSW’s Smart Places Acceleration Program, the program is built on the State Disaster Mitigation Plan which flags early warning systems as a priority for the NSW Government.