LOEWE Center “emergenCITY – The Resilient Digital City” granted
CYSEC-PI Prof. Matthias Hollick ist wissenschaftlicher Koordinator des neuen Zentrums
2019/06/24
The TU Darmstadt can establish a new center as part of the Hessian research funding program LOEWE – it is entitled “The Resilient Digital City” and will be funded by the end of 2023 with a total of 17.4 million euros. This was announced by the Hessian Ministry for Science and the Arts..
The LOEWE Center „emergenCITY“ („Resilient Digital City“) will develop solutions “to provide emergency services for and with information and communication technologies in crisis situations, to provide rapid assistance and to support an efficient return to normality”, explains the Scientific Coordinator of the Center, the computer science professor Matthias Hollick.
For this purpose, the technology must already in normal operation continuously “self-preparatory” to adjust to crisis situations and detect them autonomously, said Hollick. In emergency situations, mission-critical services should be provided more quickly. The experience gained should help to be better prepared for future critical situations.
According to previous findings, in 2050 two thirds of the world population will live in cities. Adaptable and efficient infrastructure systems are essential for this urbanization trend. Digital cities of the future will use information and communication technologies increasingly to provide networked infrastructures, for example in the fields of energy, transport, health, government and administration. As dependence on these systems increases, so does the vulnerability to natural events, human and technical failure, and violence and terror.
Teams of 23 professors from computer science, electrical engineering and information technology, mechanical engineering, social and historical sciences, architecture, economics, and law will conduct joint research in the university network – the TU Darmstadt takes the lead, partners are the University of Kassel and the University of Marburg. CYSEC-PI Matthias Hollick is the scientific co-ordinator of emergenCITY. The CYSEC-PIs Iryna Gurevych, Mira Mezini, Max Mühlhäuser, Guido Salvaneschi and Christian Reuter are also involved.
In addition, an emergenCITY lab will be established together with the digital city of Darmstadt for the practical testing of solutions. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance, as a further partner, brings in the holistic authority and application view.